Foreign
by Tirainy
Summary: AU. They met by chance. They did not understand each other a word. Good thing body-language is an universal means of communication.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Because some people still seem unaware of the fact, I'm also on AO3. Which is also where I post all my NSFW stuff. And occasionally play around with the anonymous feature. Hi to those who have just discovered it's me behind this story. ;)

Obviously, NSFW isn't allowed here and I don't plan to go against that. However, this story has been getting good responses from readers over at AO3 and I figured the first two chapters are SFW enough to post here.

Just for the record, this was supposed to be a straight-up PWP. However, then I realized it wouldn't make sense without exposition, so I wrote and wrote and somehow ended up with 20k+ words at the end of it. It was also supposed to be just a guilty-pleasure fic for myself, but, heck, I wrote it down so I might as well post it. (Only two chapters here but that still counts, right?)

P.S. "Normal text" is Sonic's language. "**Bold text**" is Shadow's language. _Italics_ are thoughts or memories.

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**Foreign**

They met by chance. They did not understand each other a word. Good thing body-language is an universal means of communication.

**Tags:** Alternative Universe, Sonadow, Language Barrier, Mobians living in tribes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, I rewrote this thing like fifty times now, Safe Sane and Consensual

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.**

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**P.S. This is the SFW version of this story. For full version check out my AO3 account.**

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**Chapter 1:**

Humming a tune, Sonic jumped over another fallen trunk, his feet safely connecting with the soft forest ground on the other side with a quiet, barely audible thud. He looked at the overgrown road ahead, jogging along it at a quick but light pace. His eyes darted around the area, trying to determine from the various slashes and colorful markings on the trees how far could the next village be.

The messy state of the path and the very sporadic blue and red markings on the trees suggested that he had to be somewhere at the limits of Acorns' territory already, possibly off the bounds even. He was just a couple of yards away from the river and considering that Acorns—like most other tribes—respected the notion that the riverside shouldn't belong to anyone, they surely didn't deem it their territory.

Sonic's lips pressed into a thin line. To be honest, he wasn't sure with what territories the Acorns' neighbored. He had never had the chance to travel this far before and until now he, honestly, hadn't believed he would need to; the five closest villages hosted_ hundreds_ of people in total—others would have found dozens of good potential matches for themselves and he had thought that he'd had enough luck to find at least _one _person who wouldn't be immediately repelled by his _'_unconventionality_'_ and be willing to at least try if it could work between them.

But apparently his extraordinary luck worked _only_ when he was seconds from getting killed by one of Eggman's metallic beasts. Any other time he needed it—like for example _now_—it clearly couldn't be bothered to help him.

Sonic sighed as he covered his aching stomach, the pain a constant reminder that he had only a few days left.

And if he doesn't manage to find someone by then...

He shook his head to chase the thought away. It was pointless to think about this now; just thinking about his problem was not going to help him. He needed to focus all of his attention on—

With a surprised yell, Sonic's slipped, just now realizing he had been walking a bit _too _close to the edge of the road. His arms shot up, trying to grab something—a branch, a protruding root, _anything_—but his hands came out empty; he began to fall, feeling nothing but air under his feet.

The howling wind rushed around him and he forced his body to twist in the air to see _where_ he was even falling—and he felt terror fill him as there was only_ river_ underneath him.

And he didn't know how to swim.

On instinct, he forced his body to curl into a ball, blocking his vision from watching him fall to his inevitable doom. However, there was little he could do to block out the _screeching _of the element that seemed to grow in volume with every beat his heart took.

And just then, his body broke through the water surface, the unforgiving element immediately reaching into his protective coat of fur and quills to stab his skin with its pure _cold_. On reflex his body jerked and he pushed his body from its stiff position, his head breaking the surface for a moment before a big wave forced it back into the depths, the river clearly determined to keep him in its grasp.

He tried to fight the element; he kicked his legs and flailed his arms blindly, desperately trying to find something to hold onto—but each time he came out empty-handed with only scratches from sharps stones to show for his efforts.

Suddenly, Sonic felt himself hitting something, his body becoming tangled in the unknown mass as long thin strands curled around him and dug into his flesh painfully. In his panicked state, he tried to twist and raise his quills, so they would cut through the unknown threat and free him—but this only caused the strands to tighten around his form more, entrapping his limbs close to his body and squeezing even the last remains of air from his chest.

He gasped for the breath that had escaped him but no air, only water filled his lungs. The liquid burned as it went down his throat and his chest became heavy. On reflex, he tried coughing it out—but the action did exactly the opposite; more water flowed into his lungs, filling them up to drown him.

With a last desperate gasp for air that only served to fill his lungs _more_, his vision started to darken. He felt the water weighing him down, dragging him, making him slowly sink into the dark depths of the river from which he would not be able to escape even if he was not immobilized.

Feeling his strength and consciousness leaving him, he forced his eyes to open and look at the distorted image of the sun that shone above, for the last time witnessing the sight before darkness claimed his vision, the muffled sound of something heavy breaking through the water surface and the sensation of arms wrapping around him being the last things to reach him before nothingness swallowed his mind.

oOo

_**"You're a lucky one, you know that?"**_ Shadow commented aloud as he re-adjusted the unconscious hedgehog in his arms, making it so the stranger's head would be laid against his shoulder more comfortably. He was not sure how the hedgehog had ended up in the river in the first place but it was obvious it had not been out of his own volition; no no-swimmer would dare to enter such a wild river as this one.

Well, unless they wanted to die—but, judging by how wildly had the blue male behaved when trying to escape, that had not been his intention.

Crimson eyes slowly traveled over the other's form, checking everything was still in norm. The shallow rising and falling of the stranger's chest showed that the hedgehog's state was stabilized at the moment, but Shadow still preferred to check regularly. After all, all the water and who-knows-what-else that had gotten into his lungs while he was underwater might cause the other to develop pulmonary edema over time.

Shadow sighed as he entered the cave that served him both as a home and a hideaway, noting that the campfire had gone out while he was out fishing. He walked over to his make-shift bed and laid the still unresponsive stranger onto it, arranging the blue hedgehog so he would be in the recovery position and thus could easily cough out any remaining water that might have stayed in his lungs. Shadow covered the other's trembling form with one of the furs and then moved to collect some wood to relight the fire.

Shadow sighed as he dropped the fishing equipment onto the ground next to the burnt-out campfire and then began to stack the wood atop of each other. The task took barely a few seconds to do and once done, he only needed to flick his finger and add a bit of chaos energy to the motion to make the wood start burning; it was an easy trick to master but considering having any sort of chaos powers was frowned among Mobians, he definitely wasn't teaching it to anyone anytime soon. No that he minded. He had always preferred to be alone and the less traces he left the better.

Sure, it was not likely that the military would search for him in Soumerca in the middle of Azamonian jungle—it had been years since his escape—but he still made sure to lie low just in case.

He blew gently at the small flame to make it grow, the red and orange flame soon licking its way up the broken branches and destroying them with searing heat.

oOo

Pain.

It was the first thing that Sonic noticed when he felt himself re-gaining consciousness. It was also the thing that made him actually open his eyes in confusion—as since when did the dead feel pain?

He blinked a couple of times, his sluggish mind taking a few moments to name what he was looking at; a stone. A firm stone ceiling that did not look familiar in any way. He looked down, even more perplexed to find himself lying on what appeared to be a bed made of wild-animal furs, one of them draped over his lower half to keep him warm.

He furrowed his brows, racking his mind for an explanation to what he was doing here—wherever that was—as the last thing he remembered was falling into the river...

However, the effort was in vain as it only made his head hurt horribly and make his almost-last moments flash before his eyes again. A pain-filled moan left him as he gripped his head to ease the torturous headache that was thrumming inside; it was as if some tiny creature was trying to hammer its way through his skull. Squeezing his eyes shut, he rolled onto his side, planning to return back to sleep to escape the pain, and instinctively tried to curl into a ball once again, hissing when it made an unexpected wave of dull pain shoot through his leg; he must have hurt it at some point while in the river.

It took a bit of work, but, in the end, he managed to get into the position. He took a deep breath through his nose and nuzzled into the bed, the scent of vaguely familiar spices that clung to it oddly comforting.

But, suddenly, there was a hand on his side urging him to uncurl and a voice demanding something, Sonic's scrambled mind not really able to make out the words but only derive their likely meaning from the stranger's tone.

Giving an unhappy grumble, Sonic tried to bat the hand away, not in the mood to do anything beside returning to sleep—and not really realizing he should be at least a _bit _preoccupied with who the stranger was—and so he only tried to curl in further, trying to ignore the insistent voice that kept speaking to him.

But the stranger—obviously a male, judging by the deepness of the voice—was relentless and kept bugging him until he rolled onto his back and actually looked at the person.

The male was a hedgehog just like him and seemed to be roughly the same age as well. His fur was dark with red stripes on his legs, arms and head quills. His torso was adorned by a small patch of white chest-hair and his eyes were crimson—an eye-color Sonic honestly hadn't ever seen before in his life.

They looked really nice...

"Huh?" Sonic voiced as he realized that he had not paid attention to a single thing the stranger had said while he'd been studying the other's visage. The unknown male—his rescuer Sonic presumed—sighed exasperatedly but repeated his question. And despite the fact that Sonic had paid his full attention to the other's words this time, he still couldn't answer.

Because he literally had _no idea_ what the guy was asking him.

"Um, do you speak Southern Azamonian by any chance...?" Sonic tried, forcing his mind to focus on the male next to him while at the same time trying to resist the urge to just close his eyes and sleep away the rest of the day.

The stranger stared at him for a long time, his red eyes contemplative and thoughtful, but no other words left him.

_I guess that means no, _Sonic mused internally as he rolled onto his side tiredly so he would be facing the ebony male, at the same time trying to ignore the ache that was slowly spreading through his leg from his, as it seemed, sprained ankle. The injury was definitely going to make traveling more troublesome for him, but Sonic didn't really preoccupy himself with the thought too much; given the fact he still felt as if he was about to fall asleep any minute now, he definitely wasn't going anywhere yet, let alone standing up.

Plus he had no real desire to _even_ get up as wrapped up like this he felt really warm and cozy...

And the scent surrounding him was _really_ nice...

"I'm just gonna take a nap...You don't mind, right, pal...?" he asked drowsily, fighting the sleepiness to wait for an answer from the foreigner—even though it was obvious that the male did not understand him.

But despite Sonic's best efforts, his eyes still slipped shut before he could receive his answer.

oOo

Shadow gazed at the once-again unconscious hedgehog with frown. A language barrier. He should have thought about that. It had been years since he had last talked with anyone and that have been hundreds of miles away. The little that he had managed to learn there was definitely not going to help him communicate with this stranger in any way—usually it took just fifty miles of distance for the local language to start sounding completely foreign to his ears and this one did not sound like anything he knew.

Of course, with a bit of time—he was a fast learner—he could learn the language but he doubted the blue hedgehog would stick around for long enough to teach him. However, he also doubted that would be necessary in the first place; it would take few days at most for the stranger to recover from his almost-drowning experience and they'd surely manage to communicate in some different way during the time.

Plus it was not like Shadow planned to keep in touch with the blue male. The only reason he had for saving and nursing the stranger back to health was because of a promise that he'd given to his sister the last time he had seen her—a promise to give a help to any person in a need of it.

However, he didn't plan to do anything else; the moment the hedgehog was well, Shadow was going to point him to the nearest village and leave him to his own devices—nothing more, nothing less.

oOo

When Sonic woke up a few hours later—or at least he believed it had been hours—he found himself headache-less and company-less. To be honest, he was very glad for the former but not really for the later.

He slowly pushed himself to sit up, mindful of his injured leg. Curious green eyes immediately swept over the area, Sonic just now realizing it was in fact a cave.

The cave was not small but not huge either; it was spacious enough to fit all necessities inside while at the same time leaving plenty of space to move around.

There was a campfire in the center of the cave, the bed, which he was occupying at the moment, only about four feet from it which allowed him to bask in its warmth while he slept. Two large fishes were roasting above the fire, their raw state showing that his rescuer must have left not long ago.

On the furthest side of the cave was stacked wood and various barrels and pots that Sonic presumed held either food or water. There was a hole carved into the left wall, various useful tools like knives lying on the makeshift shelf.

He looked over his shoulder to see what was behind him and saw that it was where the entrance of the cave was. A leather curtain covered half of it, the big piece of material most likely used during thunderstorms to keep the cold air from entering the cave. However, through the half that was not covered, Sonic could see it was dark outside, the moonshine barely tearing through the haze of the night drizzle. The air that was flowing into the cave felt heavy and humid, wordlessly telling him the drizzle would be changing into a storm very soon.

A frown edged its way onto his face, both on the idea that he could have possibly gotten stuck in this storm if he had not slipped and continued his journey to the next village—and also on the idea that the ebony hedgehog that had saved him was undoubtedly somewhere out here, high at risk of getting caught in the middle of the Nature's thunderous wrath.

And just as if he'd heard him, the foreign hedgehog appeared in the doorway at that very moment, a load of wood held in his arms. The stranger entered the cave a moment later, shaking himself at the doorway like a wild dog to free his fur of the excess water that had gotten stuck to it during his short trip outside.

Sonic moved into a full sit-up, deciding he should try to appear at least a bit presentable instead of continuing with slouching on the floor. "Um, good evening," he said aloud to notify the other of his awakening, smiling to show he had no hostile intentions.

The foreigner turned to him in visible alarm, crimson eyes hard and calculating. However, they softened when the stranger realized it was just him who had spoken; the guy probably hadn't expected him to wake up until tomorrow and had thought there was an intruder. Or simply wasn't used to having company. It could be either really.

The foreigner nodded in acknowledgment to his greeting, muttering a few words of his own in return. What they were Sonic didn't know, but he understood the message they carried.

The stranger dropped the wood into a nearby corner, leaving it there to dry itself at the air. Then he turned back to the entrance and covered it with the curtain, the leather muffling the distant thundering from outside. Then he turned around and began to walk towards Sonic.

The foreigner sat cross-legged about three feet from Sonic, keeping a respectful distance while he silently kept eye on the roasting fishes, turning them as needed.

Sonic watched the other for a while, unsure what to do. Normally, he would try to strike a conversation but with the language barrier in place, it wouldn't be very intellectually stimulating.

Well, he supposed at least introductions were in order.

"...My name is Sonic, by the way. So-ni-c," he said as clearly as possible, tapping his chest lightly to emphasize the message. "Sonic."

The foreigner had looked up from his work at the sound of his voice, gazing at him from the corner of his eyes. "...Sonic," the male repeated after him, his heavy accent lacing the word but not making it incomprehensible to Sonic's ears—just a bit odd sounding. Grinning, Sonic nodded in approval to the pronunciation to show the other that he had gotten the gist of it.

"...Shadow," the foreigner muttered in response after a small pause, gesturing to himself with his hand as well to make it clear he was referring to himself.

"Shadow?" Sonic repeated, surprised to hear such a normal sounding name from the foreigner. He had expected some name that would break his tongue, not a name like 'Shadow'.

Though maybe it wasn't even 'Shadow', maybe it just sounded like it to his ears. The language that the other had spoken to him in earlier sounded like nothing he had ever heard before, so the similarity of this particular word was most likely accidental...

"Well, thank you for saving me, Shadow," Sonic said with a smile on his face, trying to convey his message with his tone and body language when it could not be done with words.

Shadow looked at him with that contemplative thoughtful look again and then nodded, muttering something that sounded like it could mean 'You're welcome,' before focusing his attention back on the campfire that was quietly crackling about three feet from them. The two big fishes were still roasting above it, Sonic just now noticing that the fishing equipment with which they were most likely caught was lying just a few feet further, a heavily damaged fishing net among the items.

Sonic blinked, confused at why Shadow would even keep such thing. It was clearly no longer usable as its ropes seemed to be cut in various places as if something sharp had sliced it into pieces—

It was at the moment that Sonic realized who could have been the culprit.

_Well, it seems I owe Shadow a fishing net, _the cobalt male noted with a sheepish smile, rubbing his neck. So, that was what he had managed to get himself tangled into while in the river...

"Um, sorry about your net," Sonic started, a regretful expression on his face when Shadow turned to look at him. "I haven't meant to destroy it."

Shadow stared at him for a moment and then raised a questioning brow, clearly having no idea what he was saying.

_I guess I'll have to be a bit more expressive,_ Sonic realized. "Um, your net." Sonic pointed at said item, the other's eyes briefly darting to see what he was pointing at. "I'm sorry—" Sonic made the most apologetic expression he could muster. "—for destroying it."

Crimson gaze darted from his face to the damaged net and back, Shadow clearly trying to make sense of his show. But then a short 'Oh,' left him, Shadow obviously realizing what he had been saying.

The ebony hedgehog gazed at him for a moment longer, but then he shook his head in the 'It doesn't matter,' manner and focused back on the fishes, wordlessly telling him to forget the issue.

Sonic felt his shoulders sag a bit, a bit of tension leaving him. So, Shadow wasn't angry about him accidentally destroying his net. That was good to know.

He shifted a bit in his spot, moving to sit cross-legged like Shadow and surprised when he felt no pain in his leg because of the movement; his leg actually felt...numb.

Sonic threw aside the fur that was covering his lower half, surprised to find his ankle bandaged up and a strong smell of herbs assaulting his nose. He touched his injured leg tenderly, amazed he could no feel any pain at all; Shadow must have applied some kind of numbing salve to his ankle while he'd slept.

Blue brows furrowed in thought. Did this mean Shadow was a shaman? It was not usual for common folk to have knowledge of this kind. Though Shadow didn't really look like a shaman; sure, he lived alone, as shamans generally did, and even had those golden rings around his wrists and ankles, but otherwise had non of the other usual shaman decorations like tattoos or talismans, so he probably wasn't one...

Though that didn't mean giving thanks for the help wasn't in order.

"Huh?" Sonic's ears perked up at hearing Shadow's voice suddenly sound, the green eyes turning to stare at said hedgehog just a moment later to see that Shadow was now offering him one of the fishes that had been roasting over the fire for some time now. "Oh, thanks," Sonic said as he accepted the offered food, smiling again. "Oh, and for this as well," he said, tapping his bandaged ankle. Shadow gave another nod and turned his focus back to his own meal, turning the fish around so it could finish cooking.

Sonic looked at the undoubtedly delicious fish and a small frown found its way to his lips. Any other time he would have dug in without a second thought but his stomach was starting to hurt rather bad—and he rather not waste Shadow's food by possibly throwing it up later—but at the same time he knew this might as well be the last meal he'd be capable of stomaching before his heat rendered him incapable of even that; during his heats he tended to lose a bit of weight as his body simply refused any kind of nutrition during that time. Regardless of what kind of food it was, he would just end up throwing it all up a few minutes after eating it, his own body making him unwillingly starve himself.

But maybe, just maybe, he could manage this if he ate slow enough...

Deciding that it was worth a try, he started to nibble at the fish, the savory taste of the meat dancing across his tongue as he chewed; the fish was truly delicious as he had expected it to be, but Sonic couldn't really bring himself to enjoy it as his mind reminded him of his predicament.

His heat was barely two days away and he still had no one to spend the time period with. He had visited six villages in total, but so far all the alphas and betas had refused him. Though surprisingly, there were also some omegas who actually tried to woo _him _believing he was an alpha looking for a mate, the omegas misguided by his demeanor and scent.

And Sonic understood the confusion. He did not fit the mold of what an omega was supposed to be but fit that of an alpha—He was not meek and did not yield to another's will easily. Instead of chubby curves, hard lines adorned his physique. He could easily go toe to toe with any of his village fighters and very often _did_.

But all that did not make him an alpha. Just _undesirable_ omega.

Alphas, betas, omegas—that was how the natural order went. Alphas were the strongest and most dominant ones, omegas were the weakest and most submissive ones, and betas were in the middle. But Sonic did not fit that mold. He wasn't weak in mind nor body and the mere idea of forcing himself to conform to the image of a _normal omega _made his skin crawl.

Because he knew that path would not lead him to happiness—he'd seen it again and again. And even if he were to change his behavior, his body and scent would remain the same—too alpha-like. And having a mate who in any way went against this hierarchy (even if it was by smelling more dominant than his _supposedly_ more dominant partner) was considered shameful—which was completely ridiculous in Sonic's opinion, but he had learned long ago that most people got hung up on stupid stuff like that and their opinion could not be changed even with good arguments—and _very few_ people were up to dealing with the taunts that were sure to follow.

Which, _of course_, meant that his only way to acquire a 'more dominant' mate was to find some kind of an 'ultimate alpha' or at least a guy who absolutely did not care about other people's opinion, and even he, with his optimistic outlook on life, had to admit that the chances of that happening were close to none—as his struggle now showed—and that was why he had simply learned to live his life—and endure his heats—without a mate.

But he couldn't risk living such life anymore. His heats were progressively getting worse as he grew older and, considering what his last heat had looked like, his next one can very well be his final one...

Sonic frowned, frustrated that despite starting so early—at the end of his last heat, two _months_ ago—he still had not found a willing partner. Which was horrible as he was already short of time; while he had slept his body had already started producing the smell of pre-heat that announced to the world his heat was just around the corner. Sure, it was really weak currently but it still meant that he had _at most_ three days until his actual heat came, and if he did not find a suitable partner until then...

The emerald eyes looked down at his injured leg and then at the storm raging outside, aware that both of those were sure to cut his time even shorter.

Discarding the inedible remains of the fish into the fire, Sonic let out a weary sigh and lay down on the bed, muffling himself up in one of the furs. Shadow raised a brow at him, clearly puzzled by his abrupt change of mood. But Sonic choose to ignore the unvoiced question. It was not like he could explain his situation to Shadow anyway.

He just closed his eyes and hoped that sleep would claim his mind and make him forget the world at least for a few hours. And soon his wish truly was fulfilled, the scent of spices which names he still struggled to recall following him into his dreams.

oOo

Emerald eyes blinked open, their owner squinting a bit into the dark surrounding him. The fire was burning low, barely lighting up the surrounding area within a five feet radius. The rhythmic sound of raindrops hitting the ground could still be heard from the outside, but otherwise there was almost no sound, making Sonic realize it must be either late in the night or very early in the morning.

Curious green eyes looked around the cave, trying to pinpoint Shadow in the dark. Seeing the obsidian hedgehog was not on that side of the cave, Sonic rolled onto his other side, surprised to see the dark hedgehog lying just two feet from him. Shadow was lying on his side, with his back to the fire and front to him, his silhouette being the only thing Sonic could make out in the darkness of the cave.

Sonic shifted so he would be lying on his side, facing Shadow and watching the...wait, what actually was Shadow's dynamic?

The cobalt speedster furrowed his brows, surprised he didn't know this information yet. Usually, it was one of the first things he noticed about person—well, what most people noticed about a new person—as it was essential to know so there wouldn't be any accidental misunderstandings while interacting; after all, what was fine between omegas could be considered inappropriate among alphas and vice-versa.

Not wanting to accidentally wake his host up, Sonic made sure to be as quiet as possible as he sat up and leaned over Shadow. He sniffed a few times and then inhaled deeply through his nose to catch and analyze the other's scent.

The first he noticed was that it was unusually weak for a Mobian but it made up in the richness department for this flaw. It was...unique and incredibly pleasant; a mixture of the traditional alpha musk and exotic spices, which he recognized as the ones that a foreign merchant from Efrika once brought into his village when he had been barely ten years old.

The same spices that he could smell from the make-shift bed he was still lying on.

...so it was Shadow's scent he had been smelling all this time. He supposed that made sense considering this was Shadow's home, after all.

...yeah, it sometimes took him long to connect the dots. Give him a break. No one was the brightest when any kind of heat was knocking on their door.

Sighing, Sonic slowly lay down next to the black hedgehog. Then he closed his eyes again, letting the warmth of the fire and Shadow's presence lull him back into the world of dreams, somehow still not finding it odd he felt at ease around this unfamiliar male.

oOo

Since Shadow started living in the cave, there had been various interesting things that he had woken up to—a whole family of wild white-headed capuchins swarming his cave, the cave being flooded that considering the altitude from the rest of the at the time_ dry_ terrain was just baffling and a music band consisting of crocodile, armadillo, chameleon and a bee that had all decided this part of forest was excellent for rehearsing their music—which Shadow had not agreed too as their horrible music almost teared his ear-drums the moment they had started playing and so he had went to them and made couple of threatening gestures, which clearly were understood even around this part of the world, as the musicians almost immediately left the area and never came back.

Because of situations like these, Shadow had learned to live with the ridiculousness of the Universe and had believed there was nothing that could surprise him upon waking anymore.

But seeing that he was still very much surprised by the situation at hand, this belief had apparently been wrong all this time.

And what was this situation at hand?

Sonic cuddling up to him in his sleep.

However, the mere fact of cuddling was not what was baffling him—a lot of people did that while they slept, his sister Maria had used to do that too—not, it was the fact that it had _not _waken him up.

He had became an extremely light sleeper since his escape from the army's clutches and even a tiny branch snapping twenty yards away would wake him up; if somebody dared to even fleetingly touch him, they were practically guaranteed to get at least quarter of their teeth knocked out due to his survival reflexes—before he was even _fully _awake. How had Sonic thus managed to snuggle up to him without facing such fate escaped Shadow.

The hedgehog had not been around for long enough to not be deemed as a threat by his unconscious mind; the only thing Shadow knew about Sonic was the hedgehog's name and that, in comparison to the other Mobians he had met, this hedgehog actually seemed to have some kind of social manners.

Well, definitely not those about _personal_ space, but that term itself seemed to be something nonexistent among Mobians, so he couldn't really hold that against Sonic.

And he honestly didn't want to, because, Chaos, it had been_ decades _since he had slept this well; sleeping with someone by his side clearly had a therapeutic effect on his frayed nerves.

Shadow sighed as he half-closed his eyes again, contemplating if he should try to disentangle himself from the hedgehog's limbs and go find something fresh for breakfast, or if he should just continue sleeping and then just get something from the storage barrels.

However, before Shadow could reach his decision, Sonic started to shift in his sleep and for a moment Shadow thought the hedgehog would solve his dilemma for him; but just a moment later, Sonic ceased moving, his sleepy mind clearly considering the new position as acceptable. The cobalt male was now lying on his side with his back plastered to Shadow's front. Fortunately, hedgehog quills went lax while their owner slept, so Shadow didn't have to worry about possibly getting hurt on them.

And Shadow believing that the breakfast wasn't such an important meal anyway, decided that, yes, he wanted to sleep some more.

Pushing Sonic's head-quills to the side, Shadow fitted his face against the curve of Sonic's neck, the sleeping hedgehog leaning into the contact weakly. Eyes slipping shut, Shadow let out a deep exhale and then inhaled again, his nose becoming filled with a strong scent that his conscious mind vaguely recognized as Sonic's.

Shadow found himself wondering what exactly it was.

It was...a distinct earthy scent mixing with the smell of rain. Those were definitely the most pronounced features. It was underlined with male musk and there was also a trace of a sharp fragrance that Shadow couldn't quite place but was sure he had smelled somewhere before already.

He was also pretty sure that this particular feature wasn't in Sonic's scent yesterday.

Though it definitely mixed well with the rest of the other's natural scent; it helped to make Sonic's smell into a rich, inviting fragrance that made his senses sharpen, his blood slowly start to boil and thrill shoot down to his—

_Heat pheromones._

Shadow's whole body stiffened, the thought hitting him like a lightning from clear sky.

It were freaking _heat pheromones _he was smelling.

Growling out low in frustration, Shadow snapped his eyes open and forcefully turned his head away, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He forced himself to peel away from the other hedgehog's warm body and stand up as he felt a bit too _awake_ to sleep anymore.

Ignoring the quiet whine of protest that sounded from sleeping Sonic at the sudden loss of his personal heater, Shadow headed for the cave entrance, figuring it would be better for him to go out and clear his head before he could do anything foolish like letting himself get too wrapped up in Sonic's scent.

Because he couldn't allow himself to be weak.

Because he couldn't allow himself to get...attached.

oOo

"Water?" Sonic asked and offered a wooden bowl with said liquid to the hedgehog sitting by the fire-place, Shadow's dark form now only illuminated by the small camp-fire before them as the sun simply wasn't strong enough to tear through the storm clouds and reach into the cave.

Shadow spared him a look but then shook his head in denial and then muttered a few words that sounded like a complete gibberish to Sonic's ears but which the cobalt Mobian believed meant something like 'But thank you for the offer,' in Shadow's native language.

"Alright," Sonic muttered quietly and brought the bowl to his own lips, emptying it of even the last droplet of the refreshing liquid before returning it outside; he placed the bowl back onto the elevated stone right outside the cave to collect the rainwater that was surprisingly still falling from the sky even though it had already been a_ full day _since the storm had started.

Slowly, green eyes turned from the raging storm outside back to the dark hedgehog sitting before another as devastating element, Shadow's fur still damp from his short trip outside to acquire some food—three fishes, which the ebony male was in the process of gutting and a couple of fruits and mushrooms Sonic supposed the ebony hedgehog must have stumbled upon on his way back; he had been sleeping when Shadow went out so he couldn't be sure. However, the items looked pretty fresh so it was likely that they weren't items from Shadow's personal stock.

Green eyes turned to the owner of the cave, watching the other as he gutted the fish. Shadow handled the task with ease, always cutting the fish's stomach open in one smooth motion and then removing the entrails just as swiftly; it was obvious that Shadow had done this at least thousands of times already.

It made Sonic wonder how long Shadow might have been living here all alone. The cave looked quite lived-in and the amount of food supplies Shadow had also suggested the cave was meant as a long-term habitation.

_Why have you come here, Shadow? Have you been exiled for something?_ Sonic wondered internally, knowing that asking aloud was pointless with the language barrier in place. _Or have you decided to leave your tribe on your own?_

He slowly approached the sitting male, limping slightly because of his injured leg. He joined the other on the ground and grabbed another nearby knife so he could made some shallow cuts in the sides of the gutted fish so he could remove the spine and ribs; he preferred eating his food without having to worry about choking on a bone and he supposed that Shadow might too.

Said male spared him a look but did not really protest about his doing anyhow; if he simply did not want to or if he realized his complaints would not be understood, Sonic did not know.

Sonic chuckled quietly at the thought. Any other alpha surely would have protested loudly and even try to shove him away; when alphas caught something on their own, they also insisted on cooking it on their own, which was quite strange as usually alphas avoided 'domestic work' as him water in all other cases. It was probably some typical alpha need to show of their 'superior' hunting and cooking skills—of which the latter was usually just a very_ imaginary _skill.

However, it was true that alphas were excellent hunters and fishers. They were also very competitive and were extremely displeased when they weren't the best.

...and then he, an omega, came by, caught more fish than all of them combined and all of their egos were suddenly in crisis that people were praising an omega instead of them.

Of course, that was not his only offense against the long-established roles; there was one time when the tribe had been attacked by rogue raiders and, instead of fleeing with other omegas and children, he had gone to fight alongside the alphas and had forced the invaders to flee very much on his own—by using his extraordinary speed to attack them so quickly they hadn't even had the time to fight back.

He guessed that had been probably the moment that alphas and most of the betas of his tribe had decided they did not want him for a mate; omegas weren't supposed to be strong or praised for hunting and fighting. Omegas were supposed to be mothers and caretakers, not hunters or warriors. That was how it worked—an unspoken rule that he kept on defying thorough his whole life.

Just like many other unspoken rules of Mobian societies.

Emerald eyes turned to gaze back at Shadow, watching the hedgehog as he began to arrange the fishes onto the cooking grate. Come to think of it, Shadow wasn't really following certain rules himself.

For example, their _meals_. Among Mobians, there was a rule that alphas ate first, and only once they were finished, were betas allowed to dine as well, and after them omegas ate. It didn't matter who prepared the food, what age the present Mobians were or if omegas being the last meant there would be no food left for them.

It was a stupid rule that Sonic had always undermined as much as he could; he was not gonna let himself or others get treated unfairly just because of their dynamic. Unfortunately, this rule was considered the norm among by Mobians and there were only a few people who actually believed it to be unfair—it was one of those things that people believed to simply be normal.

Sure, Shadow might be one of the few who believed it to be unfair—or he might simply not be bothering with it as there was always enough food for both of them. Though, it was still odd for him to ignore this custom so blatantly when they didn't really know each other well; such behavior was commonly considered acceptable only in families, among mated pairs or during diplomatic talks.

Could it be that Shadow believed he was also an alpha? Like others? Was he doing this to avoid possible violent confrontation? To silently tell him he considered him an equal and thus there was no reason to fight?

_Well, many have told me I smell like an alpha in rut when I go into heat so that theory is pretty likely... _Sonic noted internally, a frown forming on his face. Ruts were alphas' equivalent to omegas' heats. Not all alphas suffered from them and apart from heats, ruts were much milder than heats and the affected alphas usually got just significantly more irritable—but unlike omegas they still were able to go on with their daily lives without much trouble; they just had a _lot _of pent up frustration during the time.

Quite useful on the battlefield, not as much appreciated back at the settlements.

Everybody knew since young age that it was better not to anger rutting alpha, so theoretically Shadow could be just taking precautions, so Sonic wouldn't get angry over something so trivial and attack him over it.

Sonic wasn't sure what frustrated him more; the thought that even Shadow believed he was an alpha or that he couldn't ask Shadow whether this assumption was true or not.

It'd be nice to know if Shadow was watching out for his own hide or if Sonic finally found a decent person that refused to perpetuate stupid traditions.

oOo

Shadow honestly couldn't decided what was worse; omegas in heat or PMS-ing human women.

Thorough the years, he had spent a lot of time around both and even after so many years, he still wasn't sure which was better and which was worse. Both had constant abrupt mood changes, produced way too much pheromones for his sensitive nose and were too demanding for his attention.

He honestly had hoped he wouldn't ever again have to deal with omega in heat—which was also one of the main reasons why he had chosen to live alone instead of permanently joining a tribe—but as it seemed the Universe had a sick sense of humor and loved to make him the butt of its jokes.

Sure, Sonic was not that bad as he was only in the pre-heat stage at the moment, but he knew worse things would come. As Sonic's heat would continue to grow closer, the hedgehog would start to seek _affection_ and try to woo him into a relationship.

And Shadow just_ didn't_ do affection or relationships. Many had tried and failed to get him to be their 'mate' as Mobians called it. He wasn't against romantic relationship in general but he couldn't allow himself to get attached in such way. The military was after him and that meant even his potential partner would be in danger if the GUN found out about them—his partner would definitely be taken as a hostage to get him to cooperate and he truly didn't wish anyone such fate.

But this hedgehog was making it _very _hard not to be interested. Sonic's scent was just _incredible_ and oh, so, _tempting._

And it was growing _stronger_, gradually spreading through the cave and teasing him with the idea of what he couldn't have; that he couldn't just lean over, bury his nose in the crook of Sonic's neck, push the hedgehog to the ground and then do_ obscene _things to—

Shadow squeezed the bridge of his nose to force the images away. He couldn't allow himself to get carried away both because of GUN, as well as his pride—he wasn't some kind of horny animal that was ruled by its hormones, dammit—and also because he didn't want to startle Sonic and possibly make him mistakenly assume that he expected _payment_ for his hospitality.

Plus there were other ideas this undoubtedly way too intimate gesture could possibly give to Sonic; and he definitely didn't want Sonic to think that he was trying 'to court' him—or whatever it was called among Mobians—either. He honestly had no idea what the Mobian courting practices even looked like; this topic wasn't covered in his studies and, during the time he spent around various tribes, he was more focused on learning the language than on observing the courting practices of Mobians.

Though he was pretty sure a gesture like this would fall into this category.

Shadow turned his gaze to his blue-furred guest. Sonic was looking at the campfire with furrowed brows, looking as if he was deep in thought. Crimson eyes studied the other male for a minute or so, looking for any kind of adornment he might have missed before. But he came out empty-handed just like all those past times.

Normally, mated Mobians had some kind of ornament that acted as a substitute for a wedding ring—an intricate tattoo, a big scar or a complex piece of jewelery that showed to all they were taken. However, Sonic didn't have either and he didn't even carry any distinct smell of another adult person on him, so it was obvious Sonic didn't have a partner.

Which was very much baffling as Sonic appeared to be in an excellent health and one of the most physically fit Mobians that he had ever seen, and from Sonic's looks, he guessed the hedgehog was twenty-five _at most_—and his scent, _heavens; _Sonic was a perfect candidate for a mate in every way—young, healthy and attractive—and Shadow honestly didn't understand how the hedgehog could still be without a partner.

Maybe everybody in his tribe was already paired up and so he had had to to search for partner in other tribes but had accidentally fallen into the river on his way there? Shadow supposed that was a plausible scenario.

He should probably help Sonic into the nearest village to find a match once the storm ends. He had originally planned to wait until Sonic's leg was alright and then just point him towards a village as the less he was seen by locals, the slimmer was the chance of GUN finding out about his presence.

But that was before he knew Sonic was about to go in heat.

From his studies, he knew that heats were very taxing on omega's body and mental health when they were forced to spend them without a mate; their endocrine system went completely haywire during the time period and the only way to get it back to working somehow properly was by allowing the omega to be around other male non-omega Mobians.

As far as Shadow knew, it had something to do with the body odor of alphas and betas; there was some kind of substance that if omega smelled, their body would immediately start secreting all necessary hormones and even tweak the person's scent to be more appealing to the specific partner they were spending their heat with—it was hypothesized by human scientists that this mechanism was meant to ensure the pair would form an emotional bond.

Of course, considering these facts, for Sonic to have a non-devastating heat, it would only require him to stick around Sonic. And even though, Shadow's self control was _immense_, he doubted he would be able to last full seven days surrounded by fertile omega's heat pheromones without trying to jump Sonic's bones at least once in this time frame—which even if Sonic was not against such arrangement, wouldn't end in anything good—only in inevitable disappointment on Sonic's side.

Therefore, logically, the most rational thing to do was to take Sonic into a nearest village, let him find a potential partner there and then leave and forget about the hedgehog's existence altogether.

Which was exactly what he was going to do—once this _damned _storm finally decided to _end_.

oOo

Sonic stared at the flickering flame so intensely as if it held all the answers he sought.

Why was he even getting frustrated about Shadow possibly mistaking him for an alpha? People had been doing that since he was a child, not understanding that even omega might enjoy brawling like other dynamics. He should be used to it already and he had believed he was until Shadow. His scent—even his pre-heat scent—and physique were simply alpha-like, of course, Shadow could jump into the same assumptions as other people.

But...why did it bother him then?

Maybe because he couldn't tell him like to other that he was in fact omega? Considering the language barrier, such explanation would require for him to show his _anatomy _wasn't one of an alpha and he doubted either of them would feel comfortable with such display.

He supposed he could use other means to show Shadow that he was not an alpha; there were various gestures that were commonly used in alpha and omega interaction, all of them meant to show omega's submissiveness. Sonic would hardly call himself a submissive person and he honestly didn't see a reason to act submissive just because it was expected of him as an omega. If he bowed, he bowed _only_ out of respect for that particular person; if there was none, he wasn't going to bow.

_Though if I need to do this to make Shadow understand then I supposed he could—_Wait, why did it even matter if Shadow knew he was an omega or not? It wasn't a piece of vital information he needed to share to ensure the continuation of their peaceful coexistence, just—

Sonic's eyes widened in realization. Chaos, he wanted Shadow to _pursue_ him. That was why he wanted him to know.

He wanted Shadow to be his mate. He wanted this complete ridiculously attractive stranger that he knew only for a day and who _didn't _even speak the same language to be his mate.

_Funny how staring into a fire for a few minutes can make you realize such things about yourself._

If Shadow believed he was an alpha, he might not try to pursue him for this sole fact. Mobians rarely formed pairs that weren't able to produce off-springs. Most people preferred to find a partner with which they could potentially have children and, considering no female alpha could exist, pair consisting of two alphas simply wouldn't be able to have children together.

And he wanted Shadow to know that was not the case here. That his body was capable of the feat. That they were physically compatible and could potentially be mates if Shadow wanted.

Because he definitely would like Shadow as his mate.

One might think it was just because of his nearing heat—and Sonic was not going to deny that it might have a bit of—alright a _big _influence on his decision-making—but he honestly believed Shadow was a great potential match. Sure, he didn't know much about Shadow because of the language barrier but he had been able to learn a few things about Shadow just by observing the alpha.

For example, Shadow had a great deal of patience but got visibly antsy when things weren't kept in order. Shadow was also highly intelligent. Sure, Sonic had no proof for this particular claim but thanks to having a genius younger brother he learned how to pick these things up just by observing people; and Shadow was without a doubt smarter than most of the people he had met so far. He was physically strong and in perfect health. He actually knew how to make _good_ food. Shadow cared about him even though he was a stranger—otherwise, Shadow would have not saved him from drowning, right?—and was considerate of his needs for food and warmth.

Simply said, Shadow was an extraordinary example of an alpha and would definitely be a great partner if given a chance.

And Shadow even smelled _good._ Sonic rarely trusted old wives tales, but he had to admit there had to be some kind of truth about scent compatibility; most Mobians believed that personal scent was a shapeless image that showed to others who the person was; their personality, their current health and emotional state—the moment two people knew each other's scent, they also knew each other's soul. If a person liked another person's scent, it meant they were a suitable match for them.

However, only if the sympathies were _reciprocated_ could the two have a successful and satisfying relationship.

And, yes, Sonic was aware this might be just a first impression thing on his side—and his heat clouding his mind—but most of his spontaneous decisions had been the best decision of his life, so he didn't see why he shouldn't dive head first into this as well—he knew couples that became mates just a few hours after meeting each other and they were still together and happy.

Of course, the question was what was Shadow's opinion on the matter as well. Did his scent smell pleasant Shadow? Did Shadow want him as well? Did he not? Did Shadow even want a mate? Did he even realize there was a chance to obtain one, right now?

Well, Sonic supposed he might as well try to make him understand. There was nothing to lose just by trying, right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Shadow faintly recalled he had once seen a documentary called 'The language of the wild: Look into the complex dynamics of the Mobian tribes'.

It had been a very old movie, with horrible audio quality and narrated by a woman that clearly had no knowledge on the matter, but at the same time it was, surprisingly, still one of the most educational materials that he had seen about Mobians.

However, it was not really because of any of the commentary of the narrator, but because of the visuals used there. There were scenes of various Mobian tribes from all around the world, showing the Mobian customs and the interaction among their members. It had been both a peculiar and at the same time a fascinating show.

Mobians weren't as technologically advanced as humans. However, that didn't mean they were less intelligent than humans; if anybody asked him, he would say that both of those species had the same level of intellect.

But because of the lack of effective communication, most humans still believed Mobians were simply a bit-smarter-than-average animals. Most Mobian and human languages simply weren't compatible because the one specie wasn't able to emulate the sounds of the other because it were completely different sounds than they were used to. Sure, with enough time, they should be capable to speak to each other; he was a proof it was possible for a Mobian. Though, most people simply didn't have the patience to learn the skill.

Of course, there were other problems—like the common cultural differences and odd customs every society had regardless of what species they consisted of.

And he, because he had been brought up in human society and spent only around eight weeks in total around Mobians, was having such 'cultural difficulties' right now.

He was aware that Sonic was trying to do something. But what this 'something' exactly was, he honestly had no idea.

The dinner had been...odd to say the least. Sonic had refused to eat at the_ same_ time as him. The hedgehog had accepted the plate and everything on it, but didn't actually make a move to start eating anything. He had raised a brow at Sonic for it but then dismissed it as a momentary lack of appetite—Shadow was aware some omegas didn't eat during or close before their heat—however, when Sonic started to eat the _very_ moment, he finished eating, he was just confused.

And then Sonic continued on doing odd things.

Before Sonic had seemed relaxed around him, but now the hedgehog was more curled into himself, kept his head low, had his ears pressed against his skull and had his arms wrapped around himself protectively.

The hedgehog looked almost frightened. Almost.

Shadow pondered wherever he had might have done something that could be considered as aggressive behavior in the last couple of minutes, but nothing came to mind; he honestly didn't know what had triggered the sudden change and if he should feel alarmed or not.

He tried sniffing the air, hoping to get a glimpse of the other's scent to read the emotions hidden in it, but there wasn't even a hint of fear there—which could only mean that Sonic wasn't afraid and there was something else at play here.

The ebony male stared at his cobalt counterpart, frustrated that he didn't know what was happening and thus didn't even know how he should approach the situation.

Curious green eyes met his searching gaze, Sonic not really trying to offer any kind of explanation for his behavior. The blue-furred Mobian just continued to sit there, curled up, looking as if he was waiting for some kind of reaction from him.

Shadow furrowed his brows, perplexed.

"**What do you want from me, hedgehog?**" he voiced aloud, hoping to finally get some kind of answer.

Ears perking up, Sonic reared back a bit in surprise at his harsh tone, his arms uncurling from around his body and he instead planted his palms on the ground, emerald eyes becoming thoughtful for a moment.

Shadow cocked his brow. "**Well?**"

Sonic stared at him for a moment longer and he started to shift in his spot again. Shadow hoped that some sort of response via charade would follow. However, instead of that, Sonic moved to lay on his back; knees drawn up, his tail tucked between his legs and his ears once again pressed to his head, though this time Sonic was actually maintaining an eye-contact.

Absently, Shadow raised even the second brow. Well, this was new.

Crimson eyes studied the lying Mobian, the blue-furred hedgehog's body now appearing as pliant as one of a rag doll, green eyes still having the same curious twinkle. Shadow let his gaze travel up and down the other's form again, trying to figure out what his guest might be trying to achieve.

Well, he knew that Mobians tended to be very animal-like with their body language and as far as he knew dogs did the same as Sonic when they were showing submission to another dog or when they wanted a belly rub.

Thus considering they weren't fighting, there was no actual reason for Sonic to show submission at the moment. Which as odd as it might sound meant Sonic probably wanted a belly rub; Mobians were _much_ more touch-dependent than humans so it was likely Sonic just desired physical contact but at the same time tried not to be obtrusive with his request.

Shadow furrowed his brows. Did Mobians even do belly rubs? He had not heard about this kind of interaction between Mobians and he had not even seen it during his short stay in the tribe. But most of what he had read and watched were studies on Yurashian Mobians, not Soumercan; it was possible this was considered a common gesture around this part of the world.

He wasn't a touchy-feely person himself, but because he did not want Sonic to start sulking and 'accidentally' destroying things like a cat that felt you weren't giving it enough attention—which wasn't that unlikely to happen because of his imbalanced hormone levels—it was probably better to go with the silent demand.

Plus he had heard petting something helps alleviate stress, so he supposed this might be profitable for him as well...

And so Shadow slowly raised his hand and just as slowly brought the hand to Sonic's peach-furred stomach, green eyes following the movement of the dark appendage the whole time. Splaying his fingers and applying small amount of pressure, he began to move his hand from side to side, silently waiting for Sonic's reaction.

To be honest, he had not expected it would be squirming and _laughing_.

With the chuckles still shaking his slim frame, Sonic immediately covered his stomach and sides with his arms, denying Shadow further access to his sensitive abdomen as he looked up at ebony hedgehog, mirth sparkling in his lively emerald eyes and a small grin playing on his face.

So Sonic was ticklish. Shadow supposed that threw his theory about the belly rub out of window. Luckily, Sonic didn't seem bothered by his clearly uncalled for touch—the hedgehog looked just thoroughly amused.

Shadow stared at the enigma that was Sonic, trying to figure out what could be happening in the other's spiky head. Sonic stared back at him, the tiny smile still on Sonic's face.

Then Sonic shook his head and sat up again, sitting on the soles of his feet this time. He laid both palms on the ground, using his arms to support his weight as he leaned slightly forward, tilting his head to the side and slightly up, away from Shadow, baring his neck to the alpha at the same time. His ears were once again lying flat against his head and even though Shadow knew the gesture had to have meaning, he was still as confused about it as the first time.

Just what exactly was Sonic trying to do?

oOo

Sonic decided that Shadow was the most peculiar and unintentionally hilarious person that he had ever met.

His first hint hadn't really been obvious, he was willing to admit that. But he really hadn't expected Shadow to give him a freaking _belly rub_ out of all things on the second one; lying down on your back before someone else was an universal sign of submission, wasn't it?

...Well, he supposed it apparently wasn't all around the world, but neck-baring definitely had to be one.

But if it was, why Shadow wasn't reacting?

_If he scratches my chin now, I'm just gonna drop dead from laughing too much, I swear, _Sonic commented internally as he waited for Shadow to acknowledge the gesture somehow.

Neck-baring. How could someone _not _understand that gesture?

oOo

Shadow was utterly and completely bewildered as never before in his life.

He knew Sonic was trying to convey some kind of message, but he was still failing to grasp the meaning behind this weird yoga the hedgehog seemed to be practicing at the moment. First, curling into a ball, then laying on the ground and now the cobra—or whatever the move was called in yoga.

Just what on Earth did the hedgehog want from him?!

Shadow took a deep breath to calm himself down._ I just need to think about this rationally..._

Both laying on the ground face up and then this neck-baring allowed an easy-access to the most vulnerable parts of Sonic's body—the vital organs and jugular artery. Both these gestures served among animals as a sign of capitulation—'the I do not intent to fight' signal.

But they weren't fighting or even remotely hostile to each other, so Sonic couldn't be using it in this sense. It had to be something else...

A show of trust, possibly?

Shadow supposed that made sense. Considering they couldn't communicate verbally, Sonic was using body-language to show him that he considered him trust-worthy.

But how should he show that he understood the message?

He looked at the hedgehog, briefly considering in what manner Sonic might think he'd respond. It surely had to be another just as animal-like gesture, right?

He sorted through his options and then after choosing what he considered the best one, he leaned in and pressed his nose against the spot on Sonic's neck where both the artery and the main scent gland ran. With being so close, he could hear how Sonic's breath hitched for a moment, feel how the hedgehog's body stiffened briefly and wanting to know what emotion was behind the reaction, Shadow reflexively breathed in, inhaling the omega's tantalizing smell.

Shadow's nails dug into the hard cave ground as in that fleeting moment he had to fight to keep his body from giving into the sudden instinct to _pounce _and _conquer_—to push Sonic to the ground, bury his face in the junction of Sonic's neck and shoulder, and then continued to do other even more_ inappropriate_ things to the ridiculously attractive hedgehog's body.

Mentally counting to ten to calm himself, Shadow slowly started to draw back and force himself to focus at the present moment again, Sonic immediately lowering his chin when given the chance.

Green eyes met his and Shadow could see satisfaction shining in them. It was obvious Sonic was happy that his message had gotten across. And Shadow knowing that the more allies he had the better, copied Sonic's earlier action, wanting to show the other male that the trust was reciprocated.

For some reason, Sonic looked surprised.

oOo

Green eyes stared at the cave-ceiling, searching for patterns and images in the stone ceiling as one would do on a sunny, cloudy day while lying in the grass. Sonic intertwined his fingers behind his head to make a sort-of pillow, blue ears flicking as they continued to listen to the Nature's never-ending melody, the raindrops falling on the ground in a fast but regular rhythm.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was monotonous but calming at the same time, a constant in his now very confusing life.

And the source of this confusion?

Shadow.

Sonic had expected there would be some oddities in Shadow's behavior when he learned the male was a foreigner; however, the more they interacted, the more perplexing each interaction seemed to get.

Shadow was just...too confusing for him.

When he bared his neck in completely omega-like fashion and Shadow responded to it in completely alpha-like fashion, Sonic had believed they were getting somewhere. However, then Shadow bared his neck as well and that threw Sonic completely for a loop; alphas didn't bare their necks, especially not to omegas. Alphas bared neck to show respect to other alphas or betas. Them doing so for an omega was completely unheard of.

Sure, Sonic had still accepted the gesture—after a quirked brow from Shadow at his long moment of silence, but he still had accepted it—as he didn't want Shadow to possibly think unfavorable of him for not acknowledging the gesture.

It had been at that moment that he could actually smell Shadow properly and Shadow's scent was _incredible_ from up close; it was both absolutely _overwhelming_ and incredibly _soothing_ at the same time. It made his body turn warm and mind fuzzy. His tense shoulders relaxed and he felt his ears and quills lowering themselves in_ actual _submissiveness. Even the flame of rebellion which he normally felt in his insides seemed to be doused for the time being...

He was aware this was a common reaction among omegas to alphas, but until now...he had actually never met an alpha that could make him feel like this.

It felt...liberating. Somehow.

And he wanted to experience more of this feeling—that was why he had been trying to figure the situation out since that moment—looking at it from various angles and trying to find what was Shadow's reason for returning the gesture.

Maybe it was a cultural thing. Maybe in Shadow's tribe it was considered unacceptable to not reciprocate the gesture no matter what dynamic the offerer was.

Then there was the possibility that in Shadow's tribe the gesture might have just a tad different or even various meanings—and that was why Shadow returned it.

Of course, it was possible that the gesture had the exactly same meaning for both of them; and if that was the case and Shadow truly meant to show respect with it...

...which was likely as Shadow had already done many things out of the ordinary...

...then this meant Shadow considered him an equal—not just a dispensable omega.

_None of him having to prove himself to be useful like with (almost) everyone else. None of him having to strive even for even a glimpse of a simple basic respect._

Just like that. An equal.

Warmth settled in Sonic's chest and for the first time in two months he smiled a big, genuine smile.

oOo

"Food."

"Food?"

"Yes,_ food_," Sonic emphasized, widely gesturing to the variety of things that he had assembled from the things Shadow had in the cave—some dried fruits, nuts and a salted fish Shadow had stored in one of the barrels. "And this is a fish. _Fish_," he said, pointing at this particular item to show which he meant.

"Fish," Shadow repeated, his accent slipping in once again and making the 'I' sound a bit longer than it was supposed to. However, Sonic did not really bother to correct it as Shadow's pronunciation was still understandable. Plus if they actually wanted to get somewhere, they need to focus on the amount of words instead of their perfect pronunciation; with how Shadow was doing so far, he would most likely figure it out on his own anyway.

It felt kinda odd teaching Shadow words this way, as if he were a small child, but at least the method seemed to be effective. Though, it could simply be that Shadow was just a fast learner unlike him.

But at least, they were getting somewhere. Of course, Shadow still didn't know enough words to have a meaningful conversation—after all, they just started—and probably wouldn't have until they went somewhere where he could show Shadow more things and name them for him, but at least they could communicate a bit now.

Naturally, most of their communication was still going to mostly consist of pointing at things, making exaggerated gestures and miming, but Shadow knowing basic words was sure to help them with communication in the future.

"These are called _nuts_." Sonic took the bowl with the brown-shelled goods. "Nuts."

"Nuts."

And, hopefully, neither of them would turn _that _by the end of this.

oOo

Shadow honestly had no idea what had possessed Sonic to suddenly start teaching him his language, but he definitely wasn't complaining. He always welcomed a chance to learn a new skill—or language—and doing this was definitely more intellectually stimulating and entertaining than lounging around while they waited for the storm to end.

Plus it had been a long time since he had a chance to do something like this, so, yeah, he definitely welcomed the change.

"This is a fruit. Fruit_,_" Sonic said as he took one piece of the dried pieces into his hand. "Fruit."

"Fruit," Shadow repeated to test how the word felt on his tongue, this time giving emphasis on the 'R'. It was a bad habit of his to pronounce all the Rs more strongly than necessary; but it was simply how he had been taught to pronounce them. It was sure to take him some time to get the pronunciation right in Sonic's language.

However, Sonic didn't seem to mind his imperfect pronunciation and instead kept naming all the things he could find around the cave, grouping them together in various ways and doing charades to convey the name of colors, shapes or other qualities of the particular objects.

And Shadow did his best to remember them all, but still failed to actually derive the meaning of at least the fifth of them. Sonic's energetic approach was useful when describing things like nouns and adjectives but when it came to verbs, it was actually counterproductive; Sonic was making too many hand gestures and Shadow still wasn't sure if the word that he was trying to describe now was 'catch' or 'fall'...

oOo

Shadow felt someone lightly shaking him, a familiar voice speaking unfamiliar words reaching him.

"Come on, Shadow, wake up! The storm's gone and the sun is up!" the voice continued to insist, its cheerfulness and high intonation giving away it had to be Sonic who was speaking.

Sighing, Shadow slowly opened his eyes, peering at the aforementioned male, who was currently lying next to him, and trying to figure out what Sonic was so excited about.

Seeing he was awake, Sonic immediately turned and pointed towards the entrance. "See! The storm's gone!"

Shadow looked in the direction that Sonic was looking and saw it was sunny outside, the lush green grass glistening with the morning dew, the sound of birds chirping and the wind blowing possible to be heard for the first time in two days.

So, this was what all the ruckus was about.

"Let's go out!" Sonic turned his head to face him again, a broad smile on his face. "What do you say?"

"**Out?**" Shadow pushed himself up to sit up and gestured with his head towards the entrance to confirm he had understood the request. Sonic nodded and pushed the dark arm from around his waist, so he could get up.

Shadow immediately brought the arm to his chest, staring at it as if it had committed a grave offense.

Pressing close for warmth while they slept was one thing, but embracing was different matter altogether; embracing meant_ affection_ and he_ didn't_ do affection.

Sure, the yesterday language session might have actually made him develop a bit of _liking_ for Sonic—the hedgehog was a truly entertaining person—but that didn't mean his body could suddenly start doing gestures like this.

It was too familiar.

Plus Sonic was leaving today anyway, so the less he cared for the hedgehog, the better. At least he wouldn't miss him, once he was gone.

Which was a lie as the mere thought was making his gut twist uncomfortably. But still...

Shadow curled his hand into a fist. He shouldn't feeling like this about the hedgehog; they had know each other for barely three days. He should barely care about Sonic's existence.

_You have two good-night sleeps and suddenly you think you love the hedgehog? _his inner voice of reason asked him with disdain._ Get a hold of yourself._

It had to be something about all the pheromones that were flying through the air. It had to be.

Shadow shook his head and then turned to look at Sonic, who was already standing outside, the cobalt hedgehog waving at him to join him.

One hour. Only one more hour and he would never have to worry about the hedgehog ever again.

oOo

"Alright, so what exactly are we doing here?" Sonic asked as he was set back down on his feet again. For some unknown reason, Shadow had wanted to go to this village and because his leg had been giving him trouble, the alpha had offered to carry him—which he hadn't refused because, heck, his ankle truly hurt rather bad and Shadow had seemed very adamant about bringing him here.

Sonic looked around, a group of the villagers already eyeing them with a bit of suspicion; Sonic presumed they rarely got visitors this deep in the forest.

Hearing no explanation, Sonic turned back to Shadow, the hedgehog staring at him expectantly with arms crossed over his dark chest.

Sonic quirked a brow at the expression. Was there something he had missed? He honestly had no idea why they had come here. It seemed he needed to repeat his question.

"Here." Sonic gestured to the village. "Why?" he asked, pushing the most questionable expression which he could muster.

Shadow looked slightly surprised at him not knowing. Shadow uncrossed his arms and briefly looked away, curling and uncurling his fingers as he clearly searched his mind for a way to express himself.

Then he clearly found it as he looked back at him and started to gesture.

Shadow touched his nose, inhaling audibly. "**Smell.**" Shadow gestured to him. "You." Shadow spread his arms wide, gesturing to the whole village. "Mate."

Sonic stared at the hedgehog before him, trying to decipher the message the ebony male was trying to deliver.

And then it occurred to him.

"Ah."

Shadow was aware he was about to go into a heat—and had brought him to this village so he could find a mate. Someone from this _village_.

Sonic felt a wave of disappointment wash over him at the thought.

Shadow _didn't _want him.

"Ah," Sonic repeated, not really sure what else to say. He turned his gaze to the ground, unable to look at the ebony hedgehog for the moment.

Slowly, he raised his gaze to look at the village again, not really focusing on the people there but on keeping his expression impassive and sadness at bay; somewhere in the back of his mind he had known that the chances of Shadow liking him back were close to nonexistent, but he had dared to hope that all the odd things Shadow did were just his own non-verbal way of telling him he liked him as well—that Shadow might not yet be willing to be his life-mate but that he was willing to at least give him a chance.

But obviously he had been wrong.

Blinking away the beginning of tears—stupid pre-heat making him emotional—Sonic steeled himself and turned around, giving Shadow only a half-faked smile; his heart might be shattering now but that still didn't erase the memories of everything Shadow had done for him.

"Thank you for your help and..." he said aloud, his tongue feeling as it was made of lead suddenly, "...goodbye, Shadow."

He slowly began to turn around to walk away, his heart and mind warring at what to do now. His mind insisted he should find a mate as fast as possible but his heart, albeit broken, didn't want to leave.

Just yet.

And, suddenly, as if his body had a mind of its own, Sonic was spinning around and his arms were coming to embrace the ebony hedgehog. They sneaked its way around the black-furred body, just as their owner's buried his face into the crook of Shadow's shoulder, imprinting the alpha's soothing scent to his memory. Shadow's body went rigid, the male obviously caught of guard by the unexpected gesture.

But then Sonic drew back before Shadow could have even regained his bearings. "For luck," he explained, even though he knew Shadow didn't knew either of the two words; it just felt as the right thing to say.

And like this, he parted their ways, leaving the warm embrace he'd hoped to keep for the cold uncertainty.

oOo

His mission was fulfilled. Sonic was at a village and would soon find a mate. He could now leave with good conscience that he had helped a person in need. Now everything would be as it should be; Sonic with his people and him with his calm and solitary life. It was the time to leave.

But why weren't his legs moving then?

Shadow felt as if he was rooted to the spot, his own limbs refusing to carry him away before he knew with an absolute certainty that Sonic would truly have a mate for his heat.

After all, what would be the point of saving him from the river if he succumbed to the post-heat depression just a week later?

Shadow squeezed his hands into fists and huffed in irritation, realizing he truly couldn't argue with that logic—especially, if it came from himself.

(...Chaos, that was such a shoddy excuse.)

Crimson eyes stared at the line of huts behind which Sonic had disappeared just minutes ago. He was just going to check that Sonic was doing well; considering all Sonic's qualities the hedgehog probably had at least four people fighting over him already.

Slowly, as to not draw attention, he followed in Sonic's footsteps, determined that the moment he saw Sonic was having success he would leave. And he truly saw Sonic standing just a few yards away, speaking to what appeared to be two male betas. He could hear what they were saying but his vocabulary was not yet big enough for him to actually understand the conversation. He could only observe the body-language and the voice intonation of all present and in this way decided if Sonic was doing good or not.

oOo

"So, you're an omega?" a cat guy, one of the betas, asked. Sonic nodded in affirmation. "And you're looking for a mate?"

"Yeah, everybody in my tribe is already taken, so I have to search outside of it..." Sonic lied, not wanting to reveal that was not in fact the problem. It would only make the two assume things.

The two betas exchanged a glance and Sonic already knew what kind of answer would follow; he had already witnessed the same countless times in the other villages.

"Don't take this wrong. You seem like a really likable guy, but you're way too, um—" The beta seemed to be struggling with his words, but Sonic already knew the essence they'd have before the guy even uttered them. "—well, just too _alpha_-like for an omega—I don't really like that," the beta explained, the other nodding in agreement. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to search elsewhere."

"I understand. Thanks for hearing me out," Sonic said, smiling his perfect fake smile that he had developed over the course of the last two months as he continued to get one rejection after another; smiling somehow made all the disappointment more bearable. "Have a good day."

"You too. And we wish you luck with your mission!" The betas smiled as they waved him off. The moment they thought he was out of ear-shot, they started to talk animatedly and Sonic didn't even need to hear them to know it was him they were talking about.

They always did.

Sighing, Sonic left the duo to go search for another potential mate, absently placing his arm around his hurting stomach; strangely, it had not hurt at all yesterday, but now it was acting up again without any apparent reason.

He wondered why it was.

Drooping his arm back to his side, he slowly approached another beta, this one appearing significantly more older than the earlier duo.

If he had any other choices, Sonic would have taken them; but beggars can't be choosers.

He approached the sitting male slowly and, after uttering a formal greeting, explained his situation—just like the other hundreds of times before.

"An omega? Huh? You're joking, right?" the beta asked as he gave him a scrutinizing look, his nose scrunching up as he obviously tried to catch Sonic's scent, the male's face twisting into one of disgust soon after. "Yech! You smell like a freaking alpha—and you look and carry yourself like one too! It's repulsive. Get outta my sight."

Ears pressed against Sonic's head in discontent and Sonic gritted his teeth to stop himself from giving the other male a piece of his mind. Him saying anything would only cause a fight that would cut on the time that he just _couldn't_ afford to lose.

And so, even though it made his skin crawl, he just shook his head and turned around, forcing his focus to shift only on finding another potential mate.

oOo

_**Why is this taking so long? **_Shadow furrowed his brows, feeling more and more antsy as he continued to observe Sonic's progress—or, more accurately put, the _lack _of it.

Sonic had very much talked to almost every male that lived in this village already—and those were _dozens_ of people—but there still wasn't a single person that would show any kind of interest in Sonic.

Shadow just couldn't comprehend why. As far as he knew, Mobian partnerships were always primarily built on physical attraction and Sonic was extraordinarily attractive; people should be trying to make themselves appeal to him, not the other way around.

It just didn't make _sense_.

Was there some other factor at play that he simply wasn't seeing because he wasn't brought up in Mobian society? Some kind of superstition about having a blue-furred person for a partner maybe? Mammalian Mobians rarely had such brightly colored furs as Sonic did, so maybe other people believed he was abnormal in some way and that was why they all were refusing him...

Sighing, Shadow rested his back against the tree on whose branch he was currently standing, gazing at the happenings below from an elevated position in the tree crown. He had no way of knowing what was the problem unless he talked to Sonic but at the same time he did not want to just go down and ask the hedgehog as it could potentially cause just more trouble to Sonic; him, an unmated alpha, interacting with a mate-less omega could be misinterpreted by the villagers as him trying to court the hedgehog—which would either end up in Sonic's potential suitors challenging him or these potential suitors outright giving up to avoid possible confrontation with him in belief he might have been courting Sonic for some time now and Sonic was just playing hard to get.

Considering Sonic already had to be carrying his scent on him to some extent because of all the time they had spent together, it would be a logical assumption to make.

Shadow scowled as he watched yet another alpha shake his head in denial. There were only a few other people left and from today's observations, he could conclude that the chances of either of them accepting Sonic's proposal were alarmingly low.

But what he should do if none of them was interested? Take Sonic to another village? According to current statistics, Sonic was likely to do just as badly there as he was doing now.

To raise Sonic's odds, he needed to learn what was the problem. Only then he would know how to help.

Sighing, he jumped down from the branch, landing on the ground with a quiet thud. He looked ahead, watching as the last villager turned Sonic down.

Sonic had a smile on his face when parting with the stranger, but it was clear he was only faking it out of politeness; the moment the villager walked away, Sonic's smile fell and his whole posture slumped, the hedgehog clearly dejected. Sonic wrapped his arms around himself, ears pressed against his head. He was staring at the ground, most likely thinking what he should do now.

Shadow didn't like the sight in the slightest.

Slowly, Shadow approached the cobalt hedgehog, who didn't seem to have noticed his presence yet. Crossing arms over his chest, Shadow cleared his throat and uttered, "Hey."

At the sound, Sonic immediately turned around, his body posture straightening and ears perking up the moment their gazes met.

"Hey," Sonic uttered quietly as he let his arms fall back to his sides, his expression showing his surprise at seeing Shadow still here. It was a couple of hours since they arrived and Shadow had no reason to stay apart from Sonic. "Why are you still here?"

Shadow wasn't sure what Sonic was exactly asking him, but he could imagine what kind of questions Sonic was having now. Thus he racked his brain to find the words to answer it, his limited vocabulary still an obstacle.

"I see you..." he started, gesturing with his hands to make his message more comprehensible, but he made a pause, realizing he actually didn't know how to say '**problem**' or how to describe the word via charades. He furrowed his brow in deep thought and decided that using the other Soumercan dialect he had managed to learn was his best shot. "...problem."

"Yeah." Sonic looked away, rubbing his arm. "Sort of."

"What problem?"

oOo

"Um, I..." Sonic tried to think of a way how to explain his problem to Shadow; he doubted he was capable of explaining the local customs to Shadow in a way the other—with his limited vocabulary and all—could understand it, which meant he needed to simplify his problem as much as he could. "I...I don't smell good to others."

Shadow furrowed his brows in confusion, clearly not understanding what he was telling him.

Mind racing, Sonic looked around for a way to explain his situation to Shadow. He could see a a bunch of wild flowers nearby, so he supposed he could use that...

"Be right back!" he called before running to the patch to collect the flora.

He rummaged through the flower patch, picking and smelling various flowers to find suitable ones, then once he'd chosen them, he returned to the ebony male's side, Shadow looking at him quizzically.

Sonic separated the flowers into groups and then brought up a pack of the flowers to his nose and inhaled audibly. "Smell_ good_," he emphasized and then outstretched his arm to the other male so he could test as well. And Shadow apparently understood the gesture as he smelled the flower briefly.

Then Sonic brought up the second group flowers and made a face, this time emphasizing, "Smell _bad_."

He let Shadow scent even the other bouquet, but this time the other's lips twisted into a frown and he leaned back to escape the smell.

"Smell good," Sonic repeated as he raised a hand with the pleasant-smelling flowers. "Smell bad," he said and raised the fist holding the rest of the flowers.

Then he pointed to himself and, ignoring the pang of hurt it brought him, he said, "_I_ smell _bad_." He turned around and motioned towards the village, "To them." He kept his arm outstretched for a moment to give Shadow the time to link the dots and then let his arm fall back to his side, a small sigh escaping him.

"...So, yeah, that's my problem," he said as he discarded the no longer-needed flower, throwing them in the vague direction of the flower patch, not really caring where they landed. He only turned back to Shadow, smiling sadly.

"And even though I appreciate your concern, I don't think you can help me with this..."

oOo

Shadow was utterly perplexed. Sonic? Smelling bad? The villagers needed to get their noses checked because that hedgehog smelled like_ heaven_.

...Well,_ his_ kind of heaven. But heaven, nonetheless.

He could not understand how anybody could find Sonic's scent displeasing; it was such an appealing and calming scent that quickly draw you in if you weren't careful. And he found himself craving more of it, wanting to bring Sonic closer and never let go.

But at the same time, this was the whole village refusing him, and he was aware that partner's scent was very important factor in Mobian relationships, which meant there truly had to be something wrong with Sonic's scent.

After all, he actually found it _alluring_ and that had not happened to him with any other Mobian he had met so far; there just had to be something abnormal about Sonic's scent that he liked.

...Or maybe his solitude was finally getting to him and making him think he found the hedgehog attractive. That was also a possibility.

But if that were the case, why would it be specifically Sonic's scent that he found attractive out of all possible choices? Why didn't he consider even other people's scents interesting? Why only Sonic? What were the _odds_ of his brain starting to mess with him the very moment an _abnormal_ scent was presented to him?

Him liking Sonic's scent exactly for the reason it was abnormal was definitely much more likely than that.

It made sense. Nothing was natural about Shadow's very creation; he had been created in a lab, purposefully engineered into what he was. His genetic makeup might be fundamentally Mobian but the rest of his DNA was so different from Mobians that he was essentially his own species. It just made sense for him to find regular Mobians uninteresting but be drawn to someone that was deviating from the Mobian norm as well.

Birds of a feather flock together, after all—which was exactly the problem; nobody wanted Sonic because he was simply _different_ from what they were used to. Sonic was not going to find a mate for his heat among them no matter how hard he tried.

But they weren't the only option. Not anymore.

"You—" Shadow started and Sonic turned to him once more. Shadow watched as the blue body straightened again, the hedgehog's green eyes slightly hopeful now; it was clear Sonic wished some kind of advice on his problem would follow but that he was, at the same time, prepared to hear a negative answer instead.

The hedgehog was well-aware in what kind of unpleasant position his biology had put him in, but was still willing to fight even after the countless refusals; Sonic's will was indomitable. It was a proof that he was just as powerful in mind as he was in body, and Shadow would be lying if he said that didn't appeal to him tremendously.

Shadow made a step closer and a hint of curiosity etched its way into Sonic's expression at the action. He felt the radiating warmth of Sonic's body on his skin and Sonic's scent teased at his nostrils until he was forced to take a breath and draw the scent in, the fragrance sending a tingling sensation all over his body and making a warm fire come to life deep in his insides.

He supposed he could handle looking after Sonic for a few more days...and, in the meantime, also take care of the physical needs of both of them...

"You smell good," he started, leaning in. "**Glorious,**" he growled in his own tongue, enjoying the slight widening of Sonic's eyes and the sudden spike of the hedgehog's pheromones; Sonic might not know the word itself, but he'd obviously recognized its implications, "to I."

"...Truly?" Sonic questioned as he shifted, making their bodies brush together, blue ears and eye-lids lowering slightly. If it was an instinctive or intentional action on Sonic's part Shadow couldn't really tell but didn't care to find out.

"Yes." His answer was breathed as he wrapped a single arm around the slim blue waist and leaned his forehead against Sonic's, gaze turning to the other's fawn lips, fighting the urge to just lean in and capture them as he wasn't sure if Mobians even knew what 'kiss' is; he had never seen this kind of interaction among them and he didn't want to accidentally startle Sonic by doing gesture like that.

"You smell good too," Sonic cooed and gripped on the arm around his waist in response, eyes closing shut for a brief moment. "_Really_ good..."

Shadow could feel as Sonic began to shift, leaning even closer, warm skin to warm skin, and that made Shadow snap out of his trance just as the other locked their gazes, his own green eyes fearless and warm, and his scent nothing but _happy_ and_ inviting_, and Shadow was sure that if he didn't move them _now_, he would just end up pushing Sonic to the ground into the grass and screwing the hedgehog where the whole village could see.

But even though he honestly had no problem with the idea of participating in public sex—and didn't really care what opinion the villagers had on it—he would still prefer moving to the cave where they wouldn't have to bother about anyone interrupting them; Sonic surely would appreciate having privacy.

And Sonic clearly had a similar idea. "Let's go," the hedgehog had said and even started to tug him towards the village edge, to which he, of course, did not object and just followed the other's lead for now. However, they had managed to make only about six steps in total before Sonic suddenly called, "Stop! Wait here!" and then without any other word twisted out of his hold and disappeared somewhere into the settlement again.

And Shadow, confused but interested, complied with the other's order. He had to wait only for a minute or two before Sonic appeared again, a big smile on his face and a new fishing net slung over his shoulder.

"I owe you one," Sonic said with a grin, once close enough, and immediately offered him the mass of knotted strings. Shadow stared at the item and the hedgehog holding it for a moment and then he chuckled lowly, shaking his head in disbelief before actually making a move to accept the gift.

And as they stepped back into the forest, Shadow realized that Sonic truly found a partner for his heat at the village as he had planned; it just was none of the people he had expected.

oOo

"Ah, thanks," Sonic muttered when he was once again set back on his feet, hissing as a painful jolt shot through his leg when it was forced to carry his body-weight again. Muttering a quiet curse under his breath, he slowly sat down on the grass and then began to massage his throbbing ankle to ease some of the pain; it wasn't healed yet and him running around the village like a head-less chicken for three hours definitely hadn't helped it either.

Shadow sat down beside him and, after placing down the fishing net, gestured to his leg. "Ouch?"

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at the other's word choice. "Yeah, it still hurts." He leaned against Shadow's shoulder and tried stretching his leg a bit, wincing when it made his ankle throb more. "It's really annoying."

The ebony male hummed in acknowledgement, the sound vibrating through the dark chest. Absently Sonic pressed closer in response, turning his head to nuzzle the side of Shadow's face, the dark male hesitating momentarily before daring to lean into the contact.

Sonic smiled, thoroughly enjoying the show of affection. He was not sure what had made Shadow change his mind, but he was happy it happened.

Of course, there was the chance that Shadow was doing all of this just out of compassion for him, but Sonic doubted this possibility; he had never met any Mobian would willingly put themselves into this position just out of compassion. Shadow had to like him to some degree; he wouldn't dare to call it love, more like fondness—but that was enough for Sonic. He knew he was unusual in undesirable ways and he was glad that Shadow still found him appealing as a partner despite these flaws.

He was the first one to ever do so.

Sighing tiredly, Sonic let himself sink more against the sturdy body, resting his head against dark shoulder. He felt Shadow wrap an arm around him, placing a hand on his stomach. Heat radiated off the palm, warming his skin and slowly making the pain in his insides go away...

Breathing out, Sonic smiled and fully sank into the half-embrace. He closed his eyes, quietly basking in the warmth of the sun and Shadow's presence, fully at peace both in mind and body for the first time in weeks.

So at peace, he didn't even notice the sleep edging its way into his mind until it swallowed his consciousness and filled his head with the dreams of black fur and red eyes.

* * *

**AN:** As I have said before, this is the SFW version. Therefore, the majority of chapter three is not suitable to be posted here. (But you will be able to find it on my AO3 account once the update comes.) The ending scene is though, so expect one more update. I mean I can't leave you hanging, can I? ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Here's the rest as I promised. I originally planned to include only the two ending scenes, but the chapter seemed really jarring to me like that with no transition from the last chapter at all. So I included a little bit of the chap 3 beginning too. It is slightly NSFW but nothing too graphic in my opinion. Still if you'd like to skip this part just scroll until you **find text like this**, after that you're safe. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

When Sonic woke up again, it was already the next day, back at the cave, and the first thing he did was that he groaned in discomfort. His entire body felt hot, oh, so uncomfortably hot. But he was not sick; it was the heat fever. He knew that for sure as his muscles ached as if he had brawled with Knuckles for the entire last week—despite his lack of strenuous physical activity in recent days.

He let out another groan as he rolled onto his back, throwing away the furry-blanket covering him in the process to let the chilly cave air wash over him and cool his heated body.

Closing his eyes, he let out a content sigh; this felt much better than being under the warm blanket. Hopefully, it would also be enough even thorough the rest of his heat when his body temperature would continue to rise.

He shivered as one gust of wind rushed rather low and his lower half suddenly felt as if it was freezing, making him realize that he felt rather damp in this particular area...

He groaned into the makeshift pillow under his head. So, his body was already producing a slick as well. _Great,_ he muttered internally, frowning. He had hoped that his body would be a bit slower in this aspect, so he'd have a bit more time to get to know Shadow before his heat scent made the ebony hedgehog go completely primal on him.

But, unfortunately, with the smell of slick in the air it would be a very much an impossible task now. Because when slick was present, it was a clear sign to an alpha that an omega was ready to be bred and most alphas got immediately overruled by their instincts to_ take _at time like these...

Thinking of Shadow, where exactly was he? Propping himself up on his elbows—and ignoring how his aching muscles protested against the movement—Sonic looked around, trying to find a clue that would tell him where the other male could be.

All the things seemed to be in the same place where they had been the previous morning. Maybe Shadow had gone to find something for breakfast?

_That's probably it,_ Sonic mused, lying back down and letting out another sigh. It seemed he needed to wait until Shadow came...

He was both looking forward to and fearing that moment. The other omegas had told him that mating would hurt, but that it would also make this intense yearning and physically-hurting need finally disappear—at least for a few moments—and, if he was really lucky, also earn him a life-time mate.

He knew what a proper omega was supposed to look and act like, and he also knew that he was nowhere close to that image. His body was too athletic and lacking the chubby curves an omega was supposed to have, he was too physically strong and fast for an omega—hell, he was the best at hunting in his tribe and that was alphas' job! He was too thick-headed, loud, and tough for an omega, more eager to lead than to follow, not one to thoughtlessly obey commands but instead ready to voice his complaints...

He was everything that omega wasn't supposed to be.

But Shadow did not seem to mind.

Sonic gripped the fur under him into a fist and pressed it to his muzzle, inhaling Shadow's scent to lull his body into the impression that the strong alpha was here with him, holding him and peacefully slumbering at his side...

Thankfully, it seemed to be working.

oOo

Shadow breathed, drawing the chilly morning air into his lungs, letting the cold air cool down his heated body.

He opened his eyes and stared at the cloudy sky, the white clots of air and water droplets lazily swimming in the vast blueness, a sun-ray peering through now and then.

Taking another breath, Shadow turned his gaze to the entrance of the cave in which Sonic was still quietly sleeping. When he had woken up, he had found himself unbelievably _horny_, his body bothersomely hot and unable to think straight about anything not-sex-related for more than a few seconds.

And thus he had decided to go out to clear his head and, hopefully, re-gain at least a bit of his mental self-control and focus.

He was aware that all of this was caused by all the pheromones that Sonic was producing—and he was aware that the moment he stepped back into the cave, he was most likely going to end up back at square one with those—but he had not really expected Sonic's heat pheromones would have such an impact on him; he had a great resistance to all kind of stimulants and inhibitors, so he should be mostly unaffected even by a ton of pheromones...

He looked back at the sky, taking another deep breath.

He honestly did_ not_ want to imagine what he would have been like now if he didn't have the resistance he does.

oOo

Sonic twisted and rolled restlessly, clawing at the fur underneath him, hips bucking occasionally at reflex. His body felt as if it was burning, and his insides were twisted and squeezed with need, longing, _yearning _to be finally bred...

Sonic groaned low as he tried to find a comfortable position in which to stay in and endure until Shadow came back—and then, hopefully, _quickly_ proceeded with mating—finding out that curling himself into a ball seemed as the best option for this situation as it allowed him to bury his face into the 'bed' and inhale the other's tantalizing smell; the trick was not as effective as at the beginning, but it still helped a bit...

Sonic did not know how long it had been before Shadow's voice finally sounded from the cave entrance, calling "Sonic," as a greeting as then followed by series of footsteps and a few other words which Sonic did not know the exact meaning of but assumed be along the lines of 'I'm back'.

However, he did not waste any moment and rolled on his other side, so he'd be facing Shadow, not really preoccupying himself with the thought how_ visibly _indecent his physical state was at the moment—it was not like he could do anything about it; being almost constantly aroused was a part of being in heat—and instead watched as the ebony male crouched down by the fireplace.

Shadow was fueling the dying fire with some newly-brought sticks, always taking couple and then breaking them in half before throwing them into the flames. It was only about twenty broken sticks later that Shadow stopped, nostrils flaring and his body posture turning rigid just a moment later.

Sonic felt his body shiver in anticipation. This was it. "Shadow..." he called softly to draw attention, the ebony male sharply turning to him a moment later, body posture tense and pupils visibly dilated.

"Sonic?" Shadow asked in a questioning tone, not yet moving from his spot by the campfire but the occasional twitch of his muscles betraying he would like to—where it was clear.

"Shadow," Sonic repeated in a more insistent tone now. But despite his calling, the ebony male still didn't move an inch and instead remained where he was—even though it clearly was against all what he wished to do at the moment—the hungry look in those crimson eyes spoke for itself.

Which only served to bring confusion to certain blue-furred hedgehog's mind. Sonic furrowed his brows in puzzlement, his clouded mind having trouble to figure out the reason why Shadow continued to stay so far. Normally, an alpha would just take what they wanted, but instead Shadow was waiting. For what Sonic was not sure.

Was Shadow waiting for some kind of...confirmation he could truly come closer?

It was odd but not impossible when it came to Shadow. Shadow had behaved in unusual ways many times already, and even though Sonic was not sure if it was just Shadow's personality or a cultural thing, Sonic appreciated this oddities of Shadow's behavior. No other alpha would have let him make a choice like this—to let him back out if he wanted.

Sonic smiled, feeling warmth flood his body—but this was not a warmth caused by the heat. It was an emotional one, a realization that with Shadow he would be safe and taken care of...

He really hoped Shadow would become his mate for life at the end of this.

"Shadow," Sonic said with a bigger emphasis this time, opening his arms as an invitation—as a confirmation that he truly wanted this, knowing that a body language was at the moment his only way to convey his wishes.

And this time, Shadow finally moved. He slowly rose from his crouched position and then, just as slowly, began to approach Sonic, intense crimson eyes not leaving the lying hedgehog even for a moment.

oOo

**This part has been edited out to fit the guidelines of this site. If you wish to read the full version, head over to my AO3 account.**

oOo

Keeping his eyes closed, Shadow tried to calm his pounding heart by taking another mouthful of air. He could hear Sonic's own ragged breath washing against his ear, the dark appendage flicking anytime the gust of air washed over it. He could even feel the other's rapid pulse, the Mobian's heart beating just as fast as his own.

_**Damn, I haven't meant to lose my self-control like that.**_ Shadow let out a heavy breath. Sonic's pheromones were having much greater effect on him than he'd anticipated...

"Hey, Shad..."

Tiredly, Shadow raised his head at the quiet call of his name, giving the blue-furred hedgehog his full, albeit-slightly weary attention. "Yes...?"

Sonic met his gaze, looking at him with a quiet contentment and a happy smile that suited Sonic's face so perfectly, it was_ almost_ unbelievable the hedgehog could even make a different expression.

And somehow Sonic's grin managed to grow even bigger as the hedgehog leaned his forehead against his. "That was fun, wasn't it?" he asked, eyes closing half-way. Shadow wasn't sure what the question was as of all the words he only knew the pronouns. But Sonic sounded, looked and even_ smelled_ happy—and satisfied; so Shadow guessed Sonic wasn't asking important questions but just attempting some sort of pillow-talk.

Quite ambitious considering the language barrier, but Sonic had already proved he was determined to communicate even with an obstacle like this in place.

"Yeah, you probably don't know the word 'fun'..." Sonic continued and Shadow only quietly listened and tried to distinguish and learn the sound of the new words that were presented to him as his vocabulary was still too weak to really add something to the 'conversation'. "I'd like to get to know you better, Shadow, but all this 'not speaking the same language' bit is making it pretty difficult."

Shadow raised a brow. The hedgehog sounded mildly annoyed, but he could say the irritation was not aimed at him. Considering the fact that Sonic clearly liked to talk, he was probably complaining about the lack of effective communication right now.

He snorted in amusement at the thought. He really wouldn't be surprised if that was exactly what Sonic was doing right now.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Sonic's face lit-up again. "Keep your eyes on me, 'kay? I'm gonna teach you some new words."

Shadow only raised an eye-ridge questioningly.

"Alright, first is—" Sonic unwrapped both of his arms from around his neck and splayed one of his hands before him. "—hand. _Hand_," he repeated as he curled and uncurled his fingers to emphasize the message.

_**Oh, he's teaching me again, **_Shadow realized and so he tried to repeat the word that Sonic had uttered.

"Good. Now—arm. Arm." Sonic ran his hand from his shoulder to his wrist, repeating the word again.

"Arm."

"And these are fingers. Fingers," the cobalt male continued, touching each digit.

"Fingers," Shadow repeated and Sonic nodded in agreement, a small smile on his lips.

The ebony male placed his hand on the cobalt hedgehog's shoulder and rubbed it softly. "**This**?"

Sonic grinned. "Shoulder."

"**This**?" He pulled gently at one of Sonic's triangular ears, which earned him a quiet chuckle from the other.

"Ear."

Shadow let his hand slip down the side of the other's face, softly cupping the other's jaw and running his thumb over Sonic's left cheek-bone. "**This**?"

"Cheek?" Sonic said a bit hesitantly, clearly unsure which part of his face exactly he wanted the name of. However, Shadow didn't really preoccupy himself too much if he had gotten the correct term.

Instead, he re-adjusted his grip slightly, letting his thumb brush over Sonic's fawn lips. They were swollen from earlier and Shadow was really tempted to abuse them some more... "**This**?" he asked as he leaned closer, letting his breath wash over them.

"Lips," Sonic murmured quietly, so quietly as if it were a secret meant to be kept only between the two of them. And as if wanting to ensure the secret would not be carried to the wrong ears, he leaned forward, sealing the secret away with a kiss.

And Shadow returned the action eagerly, somehow finding the sensation of the other's warm lips pressing and moving with his own addicting. It was like a drug; each time he got it, he wanted more and _more_.

It was odd as he was not an affectionate person by nature. Could it be Sonic's heat pheromones at work again? His for-years suppressed libido? Repressed loneliness possibly? He didn't know what was its source but he knew that with each kiss he felt more warmth, more need, felt more _alive_ than he had for years.

He could say that deciding to help Sonic—both times—had been ones of the best decisions he had made in a _long_ time. The hedgehog and his bright personality added color, sensation, _sound_ to his otherwise bland, quiet world of a fugitive.

With Sonic here, he no longer felt like he was just existing. With him he felt like he was _living_.

Just like he did all those years ago before that fateful night...

Slowly, Shadow pulled from the kiss and then planted a kiss on the corner of Sonic's mouth, then one on his jaw and continued the trail down his neck, Sonic immediately tilting his head to give him more room, a quiet moan escaping the hedgehog not long after.

Sure, all of these feelings that he was experiencing might be just Sonic's pheromones making a mess of his own hormones—but was that even a bad thing? For years, he had left logic dictate his life and actions and all it earned him was a quiet, completely event-less life.

But once, once when he decided to give into his feelings, give into _compassion_, he finally got something worth living for, something enjoyable in the form of Sonic's company.

Of course, this partnership of theirs might not last but it still offered a chance—a change.

Sonic needed somebody who would help him through his heats and he could do that. To take care of Sonic in his time of need and enjoy the time spend together before Sonic inevitably left to find somebody who—apart from him—was genetically compatible and with whom Sonic could start family that most living beings naturally desired. It might be in a few months, it might not be for next ten years.

That decision was Sonic's to make.

He pressed his lips to the spot where the top of Sonic's breastbone was, feeling the beat of the powerful heart it guarded.

Maybe this was the correct time to change his way of living; to stop hiding from GUN and begin interacting with the outside world again. GUN may not be even searching for him anymore and they might have completely given up on finding him already.

Ten years is a long time, after all.

oOo

_Chaos, my body hurts..._ Sonic moaned in pain as he rolled over, the heavy curtain of sleep still hanging over his senses though it did nothing to dull the ache._ Heavens, I didn't even know I had muscles in __**these **__places_...

"Ugh..." He settled for sprawling himself like a starfish on the hard stone ground, as in this position his body seemed to ache the least. Plus he could barely move a muscle, so moving into any other position wasn't really a possibility at the moment.

He let out a deep exhale and then took just as deep breath. He repeated the action a few times, hoping it would bring him some strength to actually move. He was completely exhausted as if he had just had an intense work-out instead of an eight-hour long sleep session.

Well, he guessed that the third day might have been at the fault here; his heat got the worst always at the third day and that was also when his scent got strongest; both of him and Shadow had been very much out of it then and he supposed that was also where he had pulled all those muscles...

Sonic groaned as he finally found the strength and rolled over back onto the bed, once again feeling the soft brown pelt under his palms. He put one hand over the other and laid his head atop of them, sighing. Even though the third day was the most physically draining, the rest definitely wasn't a walk in the forest either; he was pretty sure he had used up all the energy that he normally used thorough the month just for this ridiculously difficult but astonishingly satisfying week...

A small smile graced his lips. Despite the usual muscle ache and heat spells, the week had been absolutely amazing; Shadow had been by his side all this time, taking care of every need he might have had, being the most considerate partner he could imagine.

And the mating itself was just _mind-blowing_. Somehow, Shadow managed to make every single session just as (or even more) interesting and enjoyable as the one before it. Shadow did all sorts of unusual but pleasurable things that he honestly had never heard anyone talk about and which left him wondering just how it was possible nobody ever did them when they felt so good.

Especially, the mouth thing. He was definitely returning Shadow the favor someday in the near future.

And don't even make him start on mating positions; his mind had reeled when he found out there were _dozens _of them—and how much fun some of them were—and he was _definitely_ going to come up with a few on his own and then convince Shadow to try them with him.

So, yeah, the week was just utterly amazing and Sonic was sort of disappointed that his heat was over—for the first time_ ever_ in his life—but despite how great the week was, there was still one thing bothering him about all of this.

Shadow had not marked him.

Normally, an alpha would leave a bite-mark on omega's shoulder at some point during their mating so everyone else would see they were taken. But Shadow had not done so and Sonic was unsure what to think of the situation. Did Shadow not want him as long-time mate? Did Shadow consider this all a one time-thing? Or was it just another cultural difference?

The uncertainty was killing him.

Green eyes turned to gaze at the quietly sleeping male, a small frown on their owner's face. The only way to get the answers he sought was to teach Shadow the local language and then ask him. However, that would require for him to stay here and his friends back home surely were worried sick about him already.

And Knuckles was probably tired of having to protect the village from Eggman in his place too...

Though, they would surely understand if he explained it to them later, as leaving without any explanation just to go home and show he was alive to his friends could make Shadow assume things...

_Yeah. _He nodded. Staying was the correct choice to make here. He would teach Shadow his language and then when the other had a fair grasp on it—which surely wouldn't take long, judging by how fast Shadow seemed to be learning—he would explain to him that he needed to return to his home village for a few days—or even ask Shadow to tag along. He could introduce him to his friends when they were there as well...

Sonic nodded with a smile. Yes, that was a good plan. That would work.

All he needed to do now was just be patient. Which wasn't really his forte bu here it was necessary. He liked Shadow and Shadow liked him—he couldn't let something like his impatience ruin what was growing between the two of them; he'd be crazy if he let a life-opportunity like this slip through his fingers.

All he needed to do to succeed was just be patient.

Yeah, he could do that.

He _will _do that.

* * *

**AN:** Well, I hope you've enjoyed! See you next time! ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** Hello, everybody! Guess who's back with this? I've planned to return to this only after I've finished DD but I felt inspired, so I'm here now. Hope you have fun!

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

When Shadow woke up not long after, it was to the image of Sonic already awake, tending to the campfire. The hedgehog's attention, however, turned to Shadow almost immediately when the ebony let out a low tired groan.

Sonic smiled at him when he noticed he was awake. "Morning."

"Morning," Shadow repeated after him, recognizing it for the greeting it was. He sat up to stretch, feeling some of his bones pop back into place and the soreness in his muscles from the past week. He let one his hands drop back into his lap while bringing the other to rub on the back of his neck. It'd been a long time since he'd been aching like this. He probably ought to start training again; the life in jungle might be hard on a normal body, but his engineered one was built to withstand even higher stress. Obviously, he'd allowed himself to get softer than he'd thought.

However, before Shadow could start making a training plan in his head, Sonic scurried back to him, coming to sit beside him to rub their cheeks together in the Mobian way of showing affection and thus effectively drawing Shadow's thoughts away from the matter and diverting it to other things.

"Breakfast or bath first?" Sonic inquired once he got his quota of early morning physical affection and uprighted himself once more.

"Bath?" Shadow repeated as he looked at the other, unsure of the word's meaning. His brain associated the word with water but Shadow honestly could not remember what it meant with his mind still partially clouded by sleep.

"Wash," Sonic clarified, rubbing a closed fist over his chest and stomach. It took Shadow a moment to realize the other was mimicking washing himself with a cloth; during Sonic's heat neither of them had really cared that much about being_ clean_ or _fresh_, so they did the absolute minimum of just wiping themselves down with a wet cloth when things got too sticky. When it just happened to be storming outside, they'd generally also manage a brief shower in the pouring rain from time to time, but it had only ever been quick as, at the time, both their brains had very much been running a single train of dirty thoughts that did not give a flying damn about stuff like _hygiene_.

However, a thorough cleaning was certainly in order now when Sonic's heat was over. Shadow didn't think he smelled too bad but there was the general unpleasant feeling of stickiness and coarseness to his skin made of sweat, dirt and who-knew what else that he'd do without. He should probably wash the bedding too.

"Bath," Shadow decided as he pushed himself to stand up, offering the other a helping hand once upright. Sonic accepted with a smile, letting himself be pulled up. Shadow suspected it was in equal measure because Sonic just enjoyed the physical contact and because his own muscles protested every movement if the way the blue and peach body shook when upright was any indication. After all, if Shadow felt exhausted with his superiorly engineered muscles, heavens knew how Sonic had to be feeling.

Shadow collected the worst looking furs into his arms and then gestured with his head for Sonic to follow him and then lead him to the spot Shadow normally used for cleaning up.

It was a small stream that later on connected to the main river. The stream was separated into two different ground levels with a small waterfall between them that was just the perfect size for taking showers. Well, if you didn't mind showering with cold water, that is.

However, if you lived all your life in the wilderness like Sonic then you clearly didn't. Without hesitation, Sonic dipped under the falling water. Naturally, the hedgehog gave a full body shudder at the cold first, but he acclimated quickly. He even playfully splashed water towards Shadow when the ebony hedgehog took a moment to just watch as he soaked the furs he had brought with them.

"Come on, Shad." Sonic grinned. "Or are you afraid of getting little cold?" Sonic asked and even if Shadow didn't understand the full sentence he understood enough to know he was being teased. The other's grin was just a little bit _too_ wide.

When Shadow finally joined him under the waterfall but didn't manage to fully suppress a shiver at the cold element penetrating his fur, Sonic's grin spread even wider. When Shadow recovered, he childishly splashed water in retaliation at Sonic's amusement. Sonic just laughed and just brought his hands up to place them on Shadow's cheeks and angle the alpha's head to rub their noses together. Shadow had to close his eyes to keep water from getting into them because of it, but did not try to break the other's hold on his head.

Sonic released him after with a little laugh, focusing his attention on actually doing what they came here to do. Shadow busied himself the same way and they did their best not to get into each other's way as they worked; the waterfall was small, and therefore, they needed to stay close if they both wanted to be under the water at the same time.

"Do you want me to help with your back?" Sonic asked after some time. Shadow raised a questioning brow. "I'll wash your back?" Sonic tried differently, laying a hand on Shadow's lower back slowly to show his intentions.

Shadow inclined his head in confirmation, understanding the question the second time around. Normally, he'd just trust the water to get it, but they'd spent a lot of time rolling around in the cave and considering how much Sonic had _clawed_—even if he'd not realized it himself—some dried up blood probably too. Better clean it out.

He blinked in surprise when Sonic seemed to get excited at his approval and got to work immediately. Then again _grooming_ each other after spending heat together was probably considered a good sign in a relationship. To be honest, Shadow found it_ strange _to have anybody combing through the fur and quills of his back, but it wasn't unpleasant, so he just did his best to bear it quietly as Sonic worked.

When Sonic was finished, Shadow gestured for the other to turn around so he could return the favor. Sonic obliged immediately but because Shadow had not actually ever washed another hedgehog's back, he took a little longer to figure out the proper technique. However, unlike him, Sonic very much_ purred_ at the attention so Shadow figured the other didn't really mind him taking longer.

**"Done,"** Shadow announced after some time and Sonic turned around, the purr dying in his chest, but he still looked very pleased, even rubbing their cheeks together again. Shadow responded by wrapping his arm around the other's waist and pressing a brief kiss to the other's lips in his own show of affection. There was a hint of surprise on Sonic's face but he got over it quickly. Likely he'd believed kissing was something inherently linked to sex. Not that Shadow thought it should be between them.

"What do you call this?" Sonic inquired, raising a hand to gesture between them. Shadow raised a questioning brow. He understood the question but did not know what exactly Sonic was referring to.

Sonic demonstrated by being the one to kiss Shadow this time. He gestured between them again. The peach fingers touching his lips then ghosting over Shadow's to emphasize the act. "This?"

**"Kiss,"** Shadow offered with a tiny smirk, even if he knew Sonic had no chance of repeating the word.

Still the other tried, the peach cheeks turning just a tad pink when Sonic realized how much he'd butchered the pronunciation.

"Kiss," Sonic tried again, adjusting the (to him) strange word to roll more easily off his tongue. "Kiss," he repeated once more, looking pleased even if it only distantly sounded like the original thing. Shadow let him have his victory.

"Yes," Shadow agreed simply, not caring if Sonic could not pronounce the word correctly as long as he could _demonstrate_ it correctly.

With a bright grin, Sonic threw his arms around him and decided to do just that.

oOo

Despite tiredness weighing down his limbs, Sonic could not help but throw them around Shadow, giddiness spreading through his entire being as he pressed their lips together.

Sonic had been a little worried that along with his heat, Shadow's affections would come to an end too. However, he'd dared to hope when Shadow did not turn away when Sonic nuzzled him as the first thing in the morning and even remained open to Sonic's own affectionate gestures thorough their washing. Though, he'd only been convinced fully after Shadow decided to bestow some affections of his own. As it seemed, Shadow did not intend them to be a one-time thing.

Sonic's heart felt like it could soar.

He smiled into their_ kiss_—it was a difficult word to say but Sonic _liked_ it—a breathy gasp leaving him when Shadow pulled him against his own dark body, the warmth of it a strong contrast to the cold water still falling on them from above. Shadow did nothing else, just holding him close as they kissed, and Sonic relished the tranquil moment. The kiss was gentle and slow, like the many they'd share after they'd both reached their blissful peak and were just resting until their bodies' desire grew too much to be ignored.

Still, even if this type of kiss was not as demanding as others, they eventually needed to come apart for air. Sonic took a deep breath as they separated. The other's own breathing sounded a little bit more labored.

"We should probably get from under the water," Sonic suggested as the chill of the water was starting to seep into his skin. "You up for some breakfast?"

"Let's." They untangled themselves and Sonic immediately found himself missing the physical contact. However, he reasoned he'd have plenty chances to cling to Shadow like a leech at a later time, if he were interpreting Shadow's actions correctly.

Sonic felt giddiness spreading through him again at the thought.

They carefully made their way off the slick stone of the waterfall back to its grassy surroundings, shaking themselves off along the way. Their fur remained wet even after, but considering how warm it was already at this time of a day, this would not stay true for long. In the time they took to wash out the bedding, their own fur was already only a little damp.

Shadow collected the washed furs into his arms again and after they began to make their way back to the cave at an unhurried pace, which Sonic appreciated as tiredness was settling in his bones again. Half-way there, however, Shadow stopped in his tracks, crimson eyes turning their gaze to higher up.

Shadow pointed to a nearby tree. "Fruit?"

Sonic looked at the specific tree, seeing red shapes among the greenery. He didn't know what it was called as it didn't grow anywhere near his home village but he knew it was edible.

He was already halfway up the tree before he realized Shadow had likely _not_ been asking if it were a fruit but whether he was up for it as a breakfast food and probably even planning to collect the juicy treat himself. But, well, Sonic was already up here so—

"Shadow, catch!" Sonic called, waiting a moment for the other to get into position before throwing one of the fruits down. Shadow caught it easily and, one after one, Sonic dropped down a couple more before climbing back down himself.

It wasn't until his feet had already touched the ground that he realized he'd actually just broken one of the most important rules the other omegas had hammered relentlessly into his head because they knew it'd be the most difficult one for _him_ to follow.

_"Don't offend your alpha,"_ they had all said. _"Especially, by in any way insinuating him to be unable to take care of you or provide for you as his mate—such as by going to collect your own food."_

Sonic grimaced. Shadow, of course, had so far been nothing like the alphas Sonic knew, but what if this was the _one _thing that actually applied to him?

With a nervosity twisting his gut, Sonic slowly turned to look at Shadow but Shadow was not looking at him, instead re-arranging the fruit and furs in his hold. However, when their eyes finally met, Shadow did not look offended, more...amused.

However, the emotion quickly gave away to a scowl. But Sonic did not even fathom it might be because of his own expression until— "Hurt?" Shadow asked, a hint of concern in his voice. Shadow shifted things around in his arms to free one hand, which he immediately used to grasp Sonic's own hand, turning it so the palm was facing up. It wasn't until Shadow was examining his other hand that Sonic realized Shadow was likely looking for splinters or cuts, having interpreted Sonic's obvious discomfort as him having hurt himself while climbing the tree.

Obviously, Shadow found nothing, so the red eyes looked at Sonic searchingly instead. Sonic felt something swell in his chest at the look. Chaos, why was he still doubting Shadow? He was nothing like the alphas he knew.

Unlike them, his alpha _cared_.

Therefore, Sonic lied easily— "It's nothing. I'm just sore." Shadow stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Sore—Tired pain," he tried to explain in words Shadow knew. He even made a little show of stretching and grimacing. "Tired pain," he repeated to get the message across. This time Shadow seemed to understand.

"Rest," Shadow said, wrapping his free arm around Sonic's waist and tugging him back in the direction of the cave. Sonic let him, taking three of the fruits from Shadow, so the other didn't have to worry about them falling out of his hold.

When they arrived back at the cave, Sonic helped Shadow spread out the washed things across the stones that littered the area around it and then the two of them settled on another, flatter stone, letting their own coats dry out on the warm air as they ate the red fruits they had collected.

They sat side-by-side, leaning against each other, not talking at all as they ate. With his mind allowed to wander, Sonic realized what he had referred to Shadow as in his own head just moments prior.

His hand came up to rest over the space where his shoulder connected to his neck, the skin and fur there still smooth and unmarred, save for maybe a red mark or two. But not ones that would last. And yet he already thought as if he had a scar there. As if Shadow really was his mate.

_Oh, boy._

He was in deep.

oOo

The sky was dark when Shadow stirred awake.

He wasn't sure what was the reason for his awakening, so he reached with his inner chaos sense to check for some unfamiliar presence. But there was nobody not even a small animal anywhere near the cave. The night was quiet save for a light drizzle outside. The cave was shrouded in darkness and cold.

**_...cold_?**

Shadow looked over his shoulder at the fire that was supposed to be still burning, but found only ashes and the faintest glow of dying embers. Right, he had meant to go for more wood earlier but had let his own tiredness get the better of him, when he'd foolishly allowed himself to lie down beside already napping Sonic some time around noon, figuring he'd only take a short nap. But it hadn't been as the dark sky proved. Well, it appeared Sonic wasn't the only one worn out by the week.

Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he let out a quiet groan of frustration as he sat up, gently disentangling himself from blue and peach limbs. Sonic immediately made a small sound of disapproval at the disappearance of Shadow's body warmth but he remained asleep. Crimson eyes gazed upon the other's relaxed face, considering his options. He liked to be warm and comfortable as anybody, but he did not find a little bit of cold bothersome enough to get up in the middle of a night to go get some wood. He wasn't sure how well Sonic handled it, though. His own body heat had clearly been enough to keep the other warm somehow through the first half of the night, but he doubted Sonic would remain comfortable through the other half. It would be better if he were to restart the fire.

His gaze slid to the corner where he normally kept the wood, but found barely a few sticks there; he had not been replenishing the stockpile during Sonic's heat, his attention drawn by..._other things_.

Sighing, Shadow got up and, after bringing over one of the freshly-washed furs he kept for warmth and draping it over Sonic, so he would not get cold while Shadow was gone, left the cave to collect more wood.

He went to one of his favorite spots to find the right kind of wood for times like this; this kind burned for a long time and even when wet, so they would not need much to last through the night. He collected an armful and, at a leisure pace, made his way back to the cave.

As he pushed the heavy leather curtain aside, he was greeted with the surprising image of Sonic kneeling before the fireplace with _golden sparkles_ coming from his palms.

"Come on. Come on," Sonic muttered quietly, the crackling of the sparkles intensifying as Sonic poured more chaos energy into his palms—and it was _chaos energy_, Shadow could sense it. He could feel Sonic _brimming_ with it anytime he let himself sense and he'd suspected Sonic might be one of the few that were able to manipulate it, considering how abundant it was in his body. Sure, his control was _clumsy_ but it was still the most impressive chaos manipulation Shadow had seen from a Mobian of Azamon.

What did the northern tribe used to call chaos users?

Sonic gave a small cry of victory as one of the sparks caused the small pile of sticks he'd arranged in the center of the campfire to finally ignite and start smoking. Sonic leaned in, blowing gently until there was an actual flame. Sonic's mouth pulled into a big smile as it continued to grow.

"...Blessed," Shadow recalled aloud. 'Blessed' was what they'd call the ones with chaos users or wielders of other unnatural abilities. They had called him the same when they saw him command chaos energy to his will.

However, Sonic just seemed to flinch at the word, and when Sonic whipped around to look at him, obviously not expecting him to come back just yet, the omega suddenly looking very, _very_ uncomfortable, the smile gone from his face. "Y-yeah, I'm..._blessed_," he admitted quietly, though he looked almost distraught to do so. The green eyes refused to meet his and Sonic seemed to curl into himself, like he wished for the ground to swallow him.

"….It doesn't change anything between us, right?" he continued cautiously, meeting Shadow's eyes for the moment and Shadow could very much see the begging in them. For what he wasn't certain.

However, from the way Sonic was reacting, it was easy to figure out being 'blessed' wasn't considered a good thing around here. It hadn't been in the north either. He'd heard the fear in people's voices anytime they called him that. Having a blessed in your tribe was both a blessing and a curse. _Blessing_ because they could employ their unique power to help their tribe and their mere presence generally drove away any raiders._ Curse _because Mobians with unique powers was a sought after commodity among certain group of humans. Mostly those who were even willing to _kill _to get their hands on one.

_Some_ even tried to make their own...

Forcing the unpleasant memory away, Shadow focused back on the distraught hedgehog before him. Did Sonic think he will not want him anymore now that he knew the other was Blessed? Well, that would be quite hypocritical of him, wouldn't it?

Shadow stepped into the cave, closing the curtain behind himself. He dropped his load beside the entrance, taking only a few branches to feed the small fire Sonic had started. He walked over to the fireplace, snapping the branches in half and dropping them into the flames before sitting down cross-legged beside Sonic onto the ground.

He glanced at the other. Sonic still looked wary. "I..." Shadow raised his hand, drawing the dormant energy in his veins to pool in the palm of it. "...too blessed." He shaped the energy into a spear of blinding golden light, twisting it around in the air to demonstrate his control over it, even changing its size a few times to drive the point home.

Awe had replaced the wariness in Sonic's expression by the time his little demonstration was over. Well, he supposed that meant he made a good impression, then.

He let the chaos spear disperse, absorbing most of the energy back into his body. Just as the last sparks were dying out, Sonic lunged with his entire body and Shadow suddenly found himself half-lying on the ground with his arms and lap full of one excited hedgehog.

"Mighty Gaias, you're like me, Shadow!" Sonic's smile was dazzling and the other's eyes were practically sparkling now, peach hands squeezing him tightly where they held onto his upper arms. "Chaos, you're prefect!" Sonic's hands came up to grab onto his head and Sonic pulled him into a fervent kiss that was both unexpected and more intense than even some they'd shared in these past few days.

When they broke apart, both of them were panting. Sonic, however, still started to laugh not long after, the joyous sounds interrupted here and there with rambling words, which Shadow could not even hope to decipher. However, one thing was clear—Sonic was _happy_. Overjoyed even. That he was blessed too. Whatever connotations that term held around here.

Shadow felt warmth spread in his insides at the pure joy in Sonic's expression. It felt strange to know he'd been the one to put it there. Especially by confession something that normally made people more inclined to run from him, than hold onto him like they never wanted to let go. But again his omega was a strange person himself.

Wait..._his_ omega?

Shadow's mind blanked for a moment at the thought. But after his brain rebooted again, no matter what angle he looked at it from, some deep-seated instinct inside him made it impossible to think about Sonic as anything else but _his_. It even refused the notion of letting the omega go for greener pastures in the future as he'd made the prediction of happening before he even made the first move on Sonic. Of course, he'd not force Sonic to stay if he really wanted to leave, no matter what his alpha side though of it, but the vehemence with which it—_he_, for it was a part of him whether he liked it or not—absolutely refused the thought was telling.

He knew it all was just hormones and pheromones at work, chemical reactions in his brain making him feel like this, but by Gods, that didn't make it any less _real_ and _baffling_.

_This one is __**ours**__,_ the most primal part of him screamed and perhaps he could disagree with it, but then he'd just be lying to himself. _And we're not letting him go,_ it shouted also and even if Shadow did not fully agree with that one, he was self-aware enough to admit that if the time really came, it would not be as easy for him as he'd originally believed.

Shadow had allowed himself to be selfish only once. It had given him Sonic. And how could he ever let go of_ someone like that _easily?

oOo

_This is not real. It can't be! Or can it?_ Sonic's rationale was warring with his emotions about the situation. It found it hard to believe that the _only _alpha to_ like _Sonic just how_ he_ was, would turn out to not only be_ kind_ but _blessed by Chaos_ too. His luck had never been this good. But this all could not be just a dream, could it?

Had he drowned in the river and this was his reward in the afterlife now?

Sonic felt like shaking his head at the silly notion. No, this was real. Shadow was real. He was _real_ and _his_.

Sonic knew it was wrong of him to get all possessive about the alpha but he did_ not _care. Shadow was absolutely _perfect_ and nobody would take him from Sonic. Sure, they could try but he wouldn't let them. They could have others. But not Shadow. _Shadow was his—_

_He's not,_ a traitorous voice in the back of his mind reminded him, a muscle of his neck jumping and reminding him there was _no mark_ there—

Sonic's fingers dug just a tad deeper where they held onto Shadow. It didn't matter that Shadow had not marked him—the alpha clearly _liked_ him, acting and caring for him just like a mate would. Sonic might not bear Shadow's mark, but he was drenched in the alpha's scent and held his affections even _outside_ heat unlike even in some mated pairs and_ nobody _was going to take that from him.

_This one's __**mine**_, he let the world know voicelessly and dared it to try to take the alpha from him.

He would not go down without a fight.

oOo

Sonic was like a black hole.

That was the comparison Shadow's brain decided was most apt to describe the peculiar omega.

Because, well, Shadow's _entire_ world was spinning completely out of control around him; his days, his _thoughts _revolved around the hedgehog, tearing him away from the familiar worn paths of his life into a spiraling descent that would always inevitably lead to Sonic. The gravitational pull was just too strong—inescapable—and the laws of nature that governed the attractive forces were unbending even for Shadow.

His fall had been inevitable. It was obvious why Shadow's brain choose that description.

Well, _that_ and_ also_ because Sonic seemed to be able to consume mass as easily as the collapsed star.

It was understandable, really—while Shadow had managed to snack here and there, Sonic had not eaten _once_ during his entire heat, so he now needed to_ compensate_ for it. If Shadow understood Sonic's explanations correctly, he didn't eat on his heats because he'd inevitably just throw it all up in several minutes. No matter what the food was. Which Shadow figured made sort of a sense, considering Sonic's anatomical situation. With reproductive and digestive track sharing the same space, and the reproductive track _assumingly_ being in 'constant' use the entire heat it could be troublesome if any waste had to pass during the time frame. Sure, the slick male omegas naturally produced as lubricant, likely had to have some anti-bacterial properties as well, otherwise he was sure there'd all have died out from chronic infections early in the evolution tree, but still—as little exposure to gut bacteria as possible in the area during heat was certainly preferable.

Of course, the involuntarily fasting meant that now when his heat was over, Sonic's body demanded the sustenance it had denied itself, likely also wanting just a little more to build reserves for the pregnancy that would normally follow. Not that there was a chance of _that_, considering their genetic incompatibility, but Sonic's body did not know that, and so it just worked as if that happening was inevitable.

At first, Sonic had tried to ration himself to a more reasonable portions, likely not wanting to test Shadow's hospitality, but Shadow knew the other had to be starving, especially considering how physically demanding the week was of him. So, Shadow made the point of supplying Sonic with food by placing it directly into Sonic's hands and telling him to eat. Both because Sonic needed it and otherwise, Shadow found himself incredibly _restless_ because some instinct deep inside him would start yelling at him for not taking proper care of the omega. How he could even tell that Sonic was hungry when the other didn't show or say anything about it, he had no idea.

He suspected _pheromones _were to blame, though.

Because his instincts practically_ purred_ at smelling a content omega anytime Sonic had all his needs met, and, Chaos, Shadow still found that to be such a _bizarre_ thing. He'd spent the first few years of his life with humans, who, yes, produced pheromones too, but it was in such a negligible amount, it was essentially worthless as a source of information in comparison to their body language or even the cadence of their voice when they spoke. Therefore, he'd learned to look for visual and vocal cues and not _olfactory_. But with Mobians he had to. He still found it absolutely mystifying and confusing how much he could work out about Sonic's mood by smell alone. Every little change was immediately noticeable and sometimes Shadow found his head swimming from the amount of stimuli. Hell, the over-stimulation of his sense of smell was one of the main reasons why he decided to live a solitary life rather than join a tribe permanently.

Though, it was better now than it had been during Sonic's heat, definitely. Sonic's scent was mellower now, lacking the sharp sting and spice of heat pheromones, the hedgehog's own natural scent being allowed to shine. And Shadow found he preferred it to what Sonic had smelled like right before his heat or even during it. Heavens knew, however, whether that was because of the smell itself or because he could smell his o_wn_ scent intermixed with Sonic's. Catching just a_ whiff_ of it certainly made him feel ridiculously _possessive_ and cause a certain degree of unrest in his lowest parts. He'd do his best to ignore the feeling, but sometimes he'd allow himself a moment of weakness and bring Sonic against his own body, bury his face in the junction of Sonic's neck and shoulder and_ breath in_ and just hold Sonic _close_. Though, he supposed that was not a problem as Sonic was always welcoming of the physical contact when Shadow got into that mood.

_Gods,_ how the mighty had fallen.

Shadow still could not bring himself to feel even an ounce of regret, though.

oOo

It took Sonic five days to start feel somehow 'normal' again. The constant want to sleep anywhere and everywhere faded after day three, his muscles had stopped aching at day four and the gaping pit that was his stomach finally began to close at day five. Certain places where sun doesn't shine still felt rather tender, but honestly that was probably his only complaint.

Shadow, Chaos, _Shadow_ continued to be absolutely wonderful and attentive to him, not once getting mad at him for essentially being a dead weight at the moment. The alpha actually seemed to understand how taxing heats were and let him rest how much he needed. Sonic offered to help with preparing the food or anything else that needed to be done anytime he found himself with energy to spare, but Shadow made it obvious he did not expect that of him.

A 'thank you', smile and cuddle or kiss seemed enough to keep the alpha content and happy. Shadow was not as expressive as him, but Shadow's scent and the lightest twitch of lips into smile anytime he was pleased, betrayed enough about the alpha's mood.

And Sonic was only happy to bestow the little affections, because, heavens, if that was all Shadow wanted then he could have that. Even _ten_ times as many. Or hundred. Anything that would make him happy.

When Sonic had set-off on his journey to find a mate, he had obviously hoped to find somebody who he could at least get along with, but over time and with ever-growing pile of rejections his standards had been trimmed down to a single requirement—to have mate that would not mistreat him. Until Shadow had agreed to spend his heat with him, he had honestly thought he would not even find_ that_. But Shadow had shown himself to be even better than Sonic's starting 'ideal'—by _miles._

Actually, Shadow had broken his expectations so much that he had actually crossed into a territory than Sonic's mind had never wandered into. He hadn't even fathomed an alpha like him might exist. Even his friend Knuckles, who was probably the 'nicest' alpha he knew (well now beside Shadow), had terrible anger issues and almost total disregard over omega woes.

Though, to give credit where it was due, Knuckles had come around a little after Sonic's last heat back in his home village; when the alpha had visited right after Sonic's heat had ended and saw how absolutely _wrecked_ it had left Sonic, Knuckles had actually admitted that he was wrong and that it was stupid on his part to assume omegas were just exaggerating it all, just because he thought it could not be_ so bad_. (It could, unfortunately.) And even if Sonic appreciated the sentiment at the time, it certainly would have been nicer if Knuckles actually took his—actual _omega's_—word for it the first time around, instead of secretly believing him to be hysteric. But he appreciated that Knuckles was willing to swallow his pride and admit he was wrong, because it showed he actually cared at least a little.

After all, it was _Knuckles_ who had actually convinced him to leave the village in search of a mate, offering to be a stand-in as a protector for the village while he was gone.

_I'll have to thank him once I get back, _Sonic hummed thoughtfully, glancing at Shadow from where he was lying on the ground. They had made a considerable progress language-wise, but conversations about more abstract topics or things he could not point-out at stuff directly were still difficult between them. Sonic believed that even at his this point he _could _get across that he'd like to get for Shadow to come live with him back at his home village, but he figured it'd probably be better if Shadow's language capabilities improved at least a little more, so he'd not accidentally get himself into trouble with others of Sonic's tribe; it took very little for their fists to start flying, unfortunately. And their word would hold greater weight than that of an outsider to their chieftain.

Sonic also didn't know how well Shadow dealt with other people. After all, Shadow lived _alone _and most did not choose that willingly. It could be because the surrounding villages did not want an outsider in their midst or simply because Shadow butted heads way too much with other people. Heavens knew Sonic himself would have gotten kicked out for the latter a long time ago if it weren't for his _blessed_ status. Beside Knuckles, Sonic was really the only one of their tribe who was able to defeat Eggman's metal beasts that threatened them every now and then. The chieftain was well aware he could not kick him out because if he did that Knuckles—because the echidna had sworn his alliance to _Sonic_ not Sonic's tribe nor their chieftain when he'd joined them—and also possibly others would follow him into exile rather than stay with 'defenseless' tribe. Sure, their stronger members could hold their own against other Mobians but Eggman's metal beasts or other blessed? No chance. Sonic's _unnatural _speed or Knuckles's equally _abnormal_ strength were required for those feats.

Sonic wondered whether that was actually why Shadow had no tribe—his status as blessed. While some tribes choose to rather keep their blessed and face the potential danger of humans coming for them—he still did not understand why humans were even doing that—others employed the exact opposite strategy of shunning and exiling the blessed in hope that would mean the humans would leave them alone. That, of course, lead to another problem of scorned blessed banding together to form raider groups that would terrorize those tribes as well as others. But obviously fear of humans and their metal beasts, bottled fire and caged lightning were greater that the fear of wrath of blessed as some Mobian tribes across Azamon would prefer to face the certain later option than the uncertain former option.

Some were so afraid of humans they'd even abandon their _own children_ if they suspected they might be blessed...

Sonic squeezed his eyes to chase away the painful thought. It would do no good for him to dwell on the past.

Green eyes opened slowly, their gaze sliding to the side. Sonic chewed his cheek absently as he watched the alpha beside him, pondering. Blessed, beside being able to control the powers of the God Chaos in some way, generally also had some other ability on the side as well. Sonic's was _speed_—he wondered what Shadow's was.

Well, there wasn't an easier thing to do than demonstrate his own and then ask Shadow about his, was it?

"Hey, Shadow." He nudged the other in his side. The crimson eyes turned to him, a dark brow raising in silent question. Sonic grinned. He might not be at the top of his game this soon after a heat, but he was certain he could already put on a show that would impress the other all the same.

Sonic pushed himself to his feet. "Let me show you something."

oOo

Shadow had been a little worried that showing his chaos powers would make Sonic afraid of him like it had with the northern tribe's members but the opposite seemed to be true. Sonic seemed even_ more _eager to be around him and_ open_ about himself, even eventually showing Shadow that beside being able to control chaos, he was also ridiculously fast on his feet. Shadow had a feeling that if given a resistant footwear that would protect his feet from the friction, Sonic would be able to run even faster. How fast Shadow was not certain but he had a gut feeling Sonic would be able to give him a run for his money if properly equipped.

It made Shadow ache a little for his early days in the jungle. The high humidity and unforgiving terrain had been merciless to his hoverskates, so it had taken only about a year for them to become unusable, and thus leave him without the proper equipment to utilize his full speed without causing himself injury. He could have found somebody to make him a new pair in one of the human settlements that surrounded the Azamonian jungle but his hoverskates were such an unique thing, he could have as well shot an emergency shot into the air to announce his whereabouts to GUN instead, so he just choose to bury the relic of his old life. They had attracted a lot attention from the Mobians anyway; the few tribes that had already worked out metallurgy, used metal only for tools and weapons, so when they spotted his footwear they were reasonably confused and wary. After all, what a dangerous and enormous tribe he would have to come from if they had enough metal to waste at things like shoes?

However, watching Sonic also brought a different feeling—_intrigue_. Being blessed generally meant the person was faster, stronger, more agile or in other cases demonstrated quite unique powers, all in varying degrees. However, he'd never met anybody as fast as Sonic or himself. Speed of this magnitude was rare even among the blessed. He'd never found somebody who could match him and he was curious to see whether Sonic actually_ could_.

Therefore, he challenged Sonic. It took quite a bit of charades to get the message across and Sonic looked a bit doubtful about it as Shadow had so far didn't demonstrate his speed could rival Sonic's, but the omega agreed, nonetheless. Eventually, he actually began to look even a little excited by the prospect as he gave himself some more time to think about it.

After all, if Shadow had already seen Sonic's speed and still wanted to race him, well that had to meant Shadow thought he _could_ win, didn't it?

oOo

"Ten?" Sonic flexed all his fingers to check it really was the headstart Shadow wanted to give him. Originally, Sonic had thought they were to race, but considering the terrain Shadow decided for a _hunt_ instead. If he managed to catch Sonic before they looped around the mountain back to the cave, Shadow would win. Otherwise Sonic did. Still Sonic thought Shadow counting to ten was way too generous. Sure, the terrain was difficult but Sonic was _fast_. The fastest person he himself knew. "Are you sure?"

But Shadow just nodded his head resolutely. Well then. If Shadow really believed in himself that much...

"Alright." Sonic got into position and sent Shadow a grin. Then he counted to three both on his hand as well as aloud and then took off.

As he counted in his head, Sonic could not help but sneak a look behind himself. It took him counting to five for Shadow to fully disappear from sight and he made sure to get as much distance in the other five, so Shadow would not feel slighted about him making it easy for the alpha. If Shadow wanted to test his speed then Sonic was going to give him a challenge.

—_nine, ten! _Sonic looked over his shoulder even though he knew Shadow would just be kicking off and therefore would require at least a few moments to even get in sight. Still Sonic could not help his own curiosity. Could Shadow actually catch up with him and then catch _him_? After all, Shadow had not—

A black figure appeared in the distance, approaching at rapid speeds, and Sonic barely managed not to fall from stumbling over in his surprise.

So, that _wasn't_ just Shadow's alpha side talking—

Green eyes turned to look at the road ahead as Sonic picked up speed, feeling his heart begin to beat quicker in his chest. When he stole a glance again, Shadow had cut the distance enough that Sonic could actually make determined crimson eyes locked onto him.

_Chaos._

Sonic's mouth pulled into a wide smile and excitement shot through his veins. Nobody had ever been able to match him—!

Sonic ran, twisted and _danced_ his way through the jungle, laughter spilling from his mouth as Shadow just continued to get_ closer_, the dark fingers almost brushing over his blue and peach fur now. Always _almost _touching before Sonic slipped away once more at the very last moment, prolonging their game that was inevitably going to end in a few moments. They were almost at the mountain and Sonic's feet were _burning_ and Shadow's had to be too, but neither was willing to give up.

It was Shadow who took the final lunge and suddenly there were arms around Sonic's middle, and they were spinning, spinning, _spinning_ and rolling down a hill—

Sonic laughed the entire way down.

They came to a stop in a tall grass with Shadow on his back and Sonic stretched over him, both of them catching their breath and trying to ignore the burn in their muscles and especially their feet.

Or at least Sonic was.

"You've caught me, Shad," Sonic said, a bit of wonder slipping in his voice, "Chaos, you've caught me!" he said, amazed. Nobody had ever beaten him in a race so far. Sonic could not help but laugh. "You've actually caught me!"

**"I told you not to doubt me."** Shadow looked smug now, undoubtedly enjoying his victory. Sonic still found the thought a little hard to believe. Somebody actually beat him in a _speed_ contest—

"W-whoa!" Sonic suddenly found himself being rolled over, so he was the one on his back on the soft jungle floor, with Shadow hovering above him. The alpha stared at him intently and Sonic was reminded of his first day of heat. But he didn't feel nervous or afraid this time around.

Sonic grinned at the alpha above him, waiting for Shadow to inevitably lean down to kiss him, before suddenly jerking his left hip up to knock the other off balance and flipping them over once more.

"A—ha!" Sonic shouted with a grin on his face as he came to straddle the other, extending his arm with his hand curled into a fist as if in warning Shadow not to get up. Shadow looked a little take aback, but he let out a small amused huff when he realized that Sonic was just playing around. The dark hands came to rest on the blue sides but Shadow did not try to roll them over once more.

Sonic grinned and decided to lean in to reward Shadow for his compliance with what he'd initially aimed to get with his stunt.

Only for Shadow to use his own trick against him and flip their positions again.

Of course, he would.

This time Shadow did not hesitate and dove for his mouth before he could recover enough to perform a counterattack, kissing to distract him, even nibbling lightly at his bottom lip and, oh, that felt nice—

It wasn't until Sonic's mind was too much of a mess to even_ remember_ he planned to fight back that he was released from the _thorough_ kiss. Sonic's breaths came in pants which changed to moan when Shadow decided to busy himself with nibbling gently at his neck while Sonic himself caught his breath. Sonic felt his skin flare up with the same warmth he had gotten familiar with at his heat, the feeling more intense where Shadow's wandering hand decided to touch him. The sensations at his neck shot straight into Sonic's groin and not long after there was the familiar wetness in between his legs. Was he..._getting aroused?_ Wait, wasn't that supposed to happen only when he was in heat?

Sonic's mind reeled at the turn of events. He knew alphas and betas were able to be aroused even outside their rut or their mate's heat, but he didn't know the same applied to _omegas_. Now his head was full of questions—like, would mating outside his heat feel the same as mating when he was in heat? Would it be worse? _Better?_

The older omegas seemed to resent mating outside their heats because they it was apparently more _difficult_ and more _painful_, but Sonic wasn't sure how much that was inherent to the act and how much to the one they were performing it with. Being with Shadow taught him, mating didn't have to hurt as long as he was _prepared_ beforehand—and Shadow always made sure he was. So if Shadow _wanted_ to actually mate outside his heat, well...Sonic would_ not_ be opposed to trying it. Though, not today yet.

He was still a bit sore and rather _chafed_ from his heat.

"Shadow." He gently pushed at the other's shoulders, taking a steadying breath as Shadow's wandering hand was already quite close to places Sonic would prefer to be left alone just a little longer. Shadow raised his head with an acknowledging hum. "Sore," Sonic just said with a small smile. The dark brows knitted together in confusion, Shadow likely not recalling the word's meaning. "Sore," Sonic repeated, pointing down his body, giving Shadow a moment longer to connect the dots on his own.

"Ah." Shadow gave him a look of realization. "Tired pain," he repeated the explanation Sonic had given him a few days ago. Sonic gave him an affirming nod. A hint of guilt flashed over Shadow's face. "Sorry," he muttered as he shifted to sit beside Sonic instead of hovering above him, helping the omega into a sit-up after.

"It's okay." Sonic rubbed his cheek against Shadow's to confirm there were no hard feelings about it on his side. Sonic _did_ enjoy being desired by the other, but there was only so much his body could take. "I like you wanting me." He gave the other a smile, laying his hand over Shadow's and squeezing the dark hand just so.

"Like?" Shadow raised a brow at the word. Sonic knew he used it often but that probably just confused Shadow more about its meaning.

"It makes me happy," he clarified, rubbing a hand over his heart. "Here."

Shadow observed the gesture and Sonic could practically see the thoughts churning in the dark head.

Then Shadow laid his own head over his heart. The crimson eyes locked with his own. "...I like you," Shadow declared, drumming his fingers lightly on his chest before pointing to Sonic and then repeating the gesture and the words once more. "I like you."

Sonic's heart danced excitedly in his chest at the declaration. The muscles of Sonic's mouth ached at how wide he was smiling now.

"I like you too," he said and then leaned in to confirm it with a kiss. That quickly turned turned from innocent to something more _demanding_ on Sonic's part to the omega's own surprise. Well, he really didn't feel like_ rolling_ around in the grass but perhaps some action including their _hands_—

"BACK OFF, intruders!"

oOo

Shadow did not enjoy being interrupted nor having somebody yell right in his frigging _ear_. But this goddamn jungle apparently enjoyed doing exactly that anytime he let his guard even a little down.

Though, he was gonna forgive Sonic for the yelling because it was obviously involuntary reaction on his part to being startled, but Shadow was most certainly _not _forgiving the guy who had caused that by randomly jumping at them from behind the bush.

Both him and Sonic got to their feet lighting-fast and into a battle stance. Shadow even redirected the chaos energy in his body to his hands, so he could start chucking chaos spears left and right if it turned out to be necessary. However, as he let himself gaze upon the guy—monkey—and saw the red and blues painting his face and beads of the same color adorning his body and weapon—a spear of distinct style—he realized that would not be necessary.

He knew this tribe.

He allowed himself relax, and from the corner of his eye, he could see Sonic eventually following his lead even if the omega obviously still felt wary about the situation. The warrior himself seemed to relax just so at their lack of aggression. Shadow raised his hand, moving it slowly enough there was no way the warrior could mistake it for an attack. He made a wide circle with his hand, then briefly brought it to his mouth and then outstretched his arm as if offering the warrior something to take. Which he _technically_ was.

"Peace," he said and the warrior visibly relaxed upon recognizing the distinct greeting of his tribe; Shadow would trade with their members anytime he needed something he could not make or get on his own—such as tools or special produce like honey—and one of the women he most often bargained with had taught him the greeting early on, so he could enter the village without her fellow tribe-mates trying to make him into a pincushion; their village was close to one of the main paths, so they often had to deal with guests with not-so-good intentions. Any outsider was guilty until proven innocent.

"Why are you here?" the warrior asked, eying them both with suspicion. There was a faint recognition in his eyes when he looked at Shadow, which Shadow assumed meant the other had seen him around the village at some point but knew him to be an outsider. Shadow couldn't say the same. Then again, it'd been at least already a year since he'd last been here and he didn't particularly care for anybody else but the people he traded with.

"Trade," Shadow said simply, knowing the other would trust the lie more than the truth they had just accidentally stumbled into their territory. Though, it certainly had not been last time Shadow was here; the village must had grown that they'd send people to guard this close to the mountain.

"With who?" the warrior continued his questioning.

"Bunnie," was Shadow's simple answer. He'd trade with her most often as whatever he wanted she'd get him even if she needed to bargain with other members of her tribe for it. Sure, the trades were generally more in her favor but Shadow supposed it was a fair compensation for her bargaining with him—and doing the hard work of _figuring out _what exactly it was that he wanted—when they did not speak the same language.

The warrior looked them both over once more, clearly pondering what Shadow had told him. But he inclined his head eventually, gesturing for them to follow him.

They both fell in step behind him, Sonic quietly following Shadow's lead for now. Shadow appreciated the trust.

The warrior lead them into a village, which indeed had grown since he'd last visited. As they passed the huts and fields, people turned to look at them curious, even whispering amongst themselves but none dared to approach them.

Knowing the muttering around them would mask his voice, Sonic dared to speak. "Peace? Trade?" There was a hint of surprise to his tone. "I didn't teach you those words."

"You not only one teach," Shadow retorted, pointing towards the hut in which the warrior had just disappeared. He emerged from it just a moment later, a rabbit woman following right behind him.

When her gaze finally fell upon them, she looked surprised to see Shadow. However, the surprise changed to curiosity when she saw Sonic beside him. She dismissed the warrior with a pat to his shoulder and then began to approach them.

Well, he supposed he might as well do some trading when he was already here.

oOo

"So, what exactly are you doin' with Shadow?" the rabbit beta, 'Bunnie' as Sonic learned, asked as she offered him a cup to quench his thirst from the heavy lifting he'd been doing; Shadow had decided that when they were already here, he'd take the opportunity and bargain with Bunnie. He offered to do some heavy work in exchange for a bit of honey, eggs and some spices. He had not included Sonic in the bargain but Sonic had decided that he'd show his appreciation for Shadow and offered to be helping hand as well to get some extra stuff for them. Bunnie had agreed eagerly because the tribe was building a storage for their crops, so every helping hand was appreciated. Especially, those who could do the heavy work of collecting and moving around the wood necessary for the building.

"Thank you." Sonic took the cup, tilting his chin up just so to underline his gratitude. In his own tribe, he'd be expected to serve himself as an omega. Then again, nobody would have expected omega to be doing hard physical work. Of course, Bunnie probably didn't even realize she was dealing with omega considering he didn't really look, smell or act the part.

Sonic sniffed at the contents of the cup to check it was indeed water and not the bitter drink some other tribes loved to drink instead. When he confirmed it indeed was, he downed the cup to moisten his parched throat before answering, "Well, I can't swim and managed to fall into the Azamon—and Shadow saved me from drowning." It wasn't a lie, though it wasn't the full story either. "I've been with him ever since."

"You can't go back t' yer tribe?" she inquired, obviously finding it strange he'd not went back to his village when he was obviously healthy enough to do heavy lifting and thus also to make the journey. "Because if the answer is 'no', then let me tell you we can always use a strong pair of hands around here. Our chieftain is distrustful of outsiders, but if you convince his sister, yer guaranteed to get in." She nudged him playfully. "And we have lots of pretty betas and omegas for you to take as a mate."

"Thanks for the offer, but, no, I'm not looking for a new tribe or mate." Her comment confirmed it; she thought him to be either alpha or beta. Probably beta considering her relaxed mannerism around him. He saw no reason to correct her. He set the cup back on the tree stump, intending to return back to work.

However, Bunnie's next statement stopped him in his tracks. "Shadow's yer mate, ain't he?" She had a knowing look on her face. The one who believed themselves to be right. He answered her with a confused one. He had no mark; why would she assume so? Plus she believed him to a _beta male_ and those never formed pairs with_ alpha males_.

Bunnie just laughed. "Yer not looking for a tribe or mate 'n' yer drenched in his scent, more so than I'd expect of two people who just live together." She shrugged her shoulders. "Shadow had always been strange. Ah could see him takin' a beta male for a mate. After all, he'd never shown interest in any female betas or omegas who'd practically been throwin' themselves at him since he first appeared here."

"What?" Sonic blinked. That was a new information to him. Well, of course, it was a new information because the didn't really talk about anything that did no pertain to the _now_. But still Sonic was surprised.

"Yeah, Ah think that's why he's always refused to join us. He obviously hates the attention. Kinda weird considerin' he's an alpha and every other alpha Ah knew always preens at attention, but Ah digress." She took a sip out of her own cup. "But every so 'n' then somebody tries their luck—like_ her_." She pointed to where Shadow along with several others was piling wood to be further shaped.

There was a young feline of small constitution and soft curves, most likely an omega, standing by the pile of the wood. She was doing her best at doing the most bashful display she could, while at the same time trying to draw Shadow's attention. It was almost painful to watch because Shadow was obviously aware of her attempts but was pointedly ignoring her. Two of the males that were with him looked actually interested in her, openly checking her out, but it was obvious she had her eyes only for Shadow who did not spare her even a _glance_.

As Shadow went for another log and turned his back to her, she actually _pouted_, bristling up like an angry cat, which she, well,_ wa_s. She looked around and when she spotted them, she hurriedly ran over to them to take the water pitcher and fill one of the cups before running back to her previous spot. She essentially blocked Shadow's way this time, and thus forcing him to look at her, and then she was again doing that coy look, but this time also offering Shadow the cup with _both _her hands and if it were one-headed offer, then sure _fine_, but two-handed offering was _courting _behavior, and Sonic felt the ugly bite of jealous anger at his insides at the display. Honestly, could she not smell his _own_ scent clinging to Shadow like a cloud?

(Then again, even if she did, the smell of a 'beta male certainly would not make her instincts go 'danger!' for obvious reasons.)

And well, from the look on Shadow's face, it was obvious Shadow was aware there was something fishy about the offer, though he most likely did not know the context being foreigner and all. However, as far as Sonic knew, Shadow had not taken a break to drink anything yet and so he certainly had to be thirsty.

And, well, mates were supposed to look out for each other, so...

Sonic grabbed his own cup once again and after filling it up, made his way over to the two. The crimson gaze turned to him almost immediately and the girl's did too when she noticed Shadow was no longer looking at her. Sonic offered Shadow his own cup in double-handed manner too, though his was more subtle as he was holding the cup with one hand while the other appeared as if it were just supporting the bottom of it.

Still it clearly did not escape the girl's attention. She glared at him without a single muscle of her face changing its position. However, all the muscles slackened in shock when Shadow did _not _hesitate to take his own cup.

The alpha downed it in one go. Thirsty, indeed.

"More?" Sonic asked with grin.

Shadow just shook his head. "No, thank you."

"'kay." Sonic leaned in to press their cheeks together, nuzzling the other briefly. However, as he began to retreat, Shadow moved along with him to continue the nuzzle before at last separating them with a light brush of lips to Sonic's cheek. Sonic heard a gasp from his side and he knew he probably did not need to rub it in so, but he'd never claimed to be perfect and Chaos, it felt_ great_ to prove to the world he had somebody who actually wanted him as he was despite the majority of his tribe telling him all his life he'd never find a mate willing to put up with his 'eccentricities', more so one who'd be willing to _acknowledge_ him as their chosen mate even in front of other people. But they'd been wrong as Shadow's reciprocity of the affectionate gesture showed.

There was a soft, barely-there smile on Shadow's face now and Sonic could not help but match it with his own. The moment was short-lived though, as Shadow turned around to get back to work just a moment later, but that could not stop the butterflies fluttering in Sonic's insides. Not even the absolute daggers the cat was staring at him with.

As Sonic turned around, Bunnie sent him a knowing look and raised her cup in a toast.

Sonic ducked away from her gaze and pretended to drink from his own empty one.

oOo

Sonic was quiet since they'd returned from the village.

Shadow wasn't sure whether Sonic was just tired from the day's work or if perhaps it the village and the general chaos going on in there had just been a little too much stimulation for the omega after the quiet routine of the past days or if it was something else entirely, but Sonic looked absolutely lost to the world as if he were thinking about something deeply.

Shadow supposed he might also be just feeling homesick after visiting the village. Shadow didn't really know much about the place Sonic had come from as Sonic hadn't talked about it much—or if he had, Shadow had not understood him at the time—so Shadow only knew few tidbits like that Sonic had a brother—_Miles_ was the name?—but otherwise no family and that his tribe was relatively small—only about forty people. He didn't know what it was like for Sonic back at his village but he supposed it'd make sense for him to be homesick after being gone for who knew how long searching for a mate. He probably wanted to go back and see his brother.

Shadow's hands stilled in the process of crushing berries for their dinner meal. Wait, was it _that_? That Sonic wanted to go back home? Well, it wasn't like Shadow was stopping him from visiting. But...wasn't he r_eally_? Shadow's knowledge of Mobian culture and traditions was minimal, so it was possible he was lacking some crucial information there. He knew that in some human cultures women when they were married off were expected to cut all ties with their original family and focus only on their new husband. Could it be something similar here? The distribution of social power between the dynamics in Azamon seemed to be similar like it was with human sexes of those cultures.

Shadow wasn't completely certain how exactly being partners—_mates_—worked among the Mobians in this part of the world, but he'd spent enough time just observing to know casual sex without any strings attached weren't a thing here. To Mobians sex was inherently linked to being mates and Mobians always had a single mate at a time. However, he also knew that there was generally some sort of visual marking in people that were mated and Sonic had not done or said anything to make him believe he wanted them to have that.

Perhaps they were just in some sort of a trial period before it'd be expected of them to declare the partnership officially? Like with humans when the two parties tried to live together before marriage? Maybe Sonic was just be bidding his time, wanting to see whether they'd work out before asking big questions like whether Shadow wanted to go live with him in his original village as official mates? Shadow knew Mobians preferred to live together in big groups and Sonic seemed to have been in his element back at the village, so Sonic would certainly like to return to his home village at some point.

Shadow frowned. His speaking abilities were still poor, so if he breached the topic, he'd more likely end up making Sonic think he wanted him gone than getting out of Sonic whether he wished to go home. But that was onShadow because he'd not made the effort to learn the language until now.

...Perhaps if he intensified his efforts, maybe even if he could just _listen_ to two fluent speakers just talking to each other, he would improve quicker? Well, the storage hut still had a long way to go, so maybe he could bargain with Bunnie again as to have excuse for spending time at the village and around its members.

Shadow hummed as he resumed the preparation of their meal. That seemed as a good plan.

oOo

Sonic did not want to go back home.

Sure, he missed his brother and some others but the rest of his tribe or even the place itself? Not at all.

This was not the first time the thought had crossed his mind but after spending the day in Bunnie's village–he believed she said _Knothole_ was what they called it—he was reminded how much he really hated the place sometimes.

He'd felt more _welcome_ and _appreciated_ in this strange unfamiliar village than he did in his own. Most people he'd interacted with had been reasonably cautious of him as an outsider but they'd been polite and cordial the entire time. A far cry from what he'd get for his efforts back home.

He wasn't certain how much of it was because he was perceived as anything but omega by the villagers and how much of it was just the common decency and gratitude of people from around here. Because from what he'd seen _every _work actually seemed to be valued here, even things like cooking or taking care of the children that his own tribesmen would describe as 'too easy to be worth any respect'. All parties showed appreciation for each other and nobody demanded of the other party to essentially be groveling on the floor worshiping the ground they walked upon for bringing a couple of measly fishes while at the same time calling the other party's work easy just because it did not involve violence or feats of physical strength. It felt refreshing and, well, Sonic _liked_ it. The _respect _everybody seemed to have for each other.

_Gods,_ he'd love it if it were like that in his own village. But he knew the people of his tribe enough he'd never see something like that. The majority of alphas and betas were too full of themselves and the omegas were too conditioned by decades of disrespect and mistreatment, and gripped by_ fear_ to even fathom the thought of challenging the status quo. Not that Sonic did not understand. On average, they were inarguably way weaker than the other dynamics and would have a way harder time to begin again if they were exiled for causing 'trouble'. The stigma of having been exiled was terrible and basically inescapable because of facial _scarring_ that would be inflicted on the exiled one, so other tribes knew they'd been rejected their tribe for something they'd done. The stigma was there even if they decided to leave on their own as people automatically assumed the person had been exiled but their original tribe just choose not to go through the trouble of giving them the scar. It was lose-lose either way when one wished for a new tribe, so most choose just not to make waves in their birth tribe than face the uncertainty of whether some other tribe would be willing to take them in or no.

And the truth remained that most tribes wanted _alphas_ and _betas _that could do heavy work and fight rather than omegas and they perceived omegas as just lost resources. The only real exception with those were shamans because there was simply too few of those. And, well, when people decided to take mates from befriended tribes. Because _nobody_ would dare to tell alpha that he could not take an outsider omega for a mate.

However...Sonic now wondered whether he'd really _have to_ stay with his tribe. Bunnie had offered him to stay with their tribe, so they clearly were one of the tribes willing to take in outsiders, and perhaps they'd be willing to take in more a few _more_ people? To be frank, Sonic was staying with his tribe _only_ because of the few people there that he cared about there and who were unwilling to leave because of the whole getting exiled stigma, but maybe if he was able to ensure beforehand that the chieftain of Knothole would accept them then they'd be willing to go?

Sonic hummed. Bunnie had said that if he convinced the chieftain's sister—_Sally_ was her name he believed—then he was guaranteed to get in. He wasn't sure whether that meant she just had an immense influence on her brother's decisions or if she was actually the one who decided who would and who would not join the village, but he supposed talking to her about the issue would be the best course of action to take in in this case. Even if she did not agree, she'd at least tell him if it was possible and what the conditions were in that case.

Sonic grinned. It was decided.

Tomorrow he'd meet Sally.

oOo

Expectedly, Sonic joined Shadow when he voiced his intent to go to Bunnie's village again. What his exact reasons were, Shadow did not know and did not ask. Sonic probably just enjoyed the change of scenery. Or simply wanted to help him get more supplies just to see what else he'd make; Shadow had used some of what they'd been given yesterday to make what was essentially pancakes with some honey and ground berries and Sonic seemed to have loved the meal. He was probably curious what other unusual meal Shadow could make if given the stuff to do so. Which Shadow understood as back in the early days, he himself had found interest in Mobian cuisine as having been raised among humans meant he'd never have gotten to experience it. Sonic most likely had never had human cuisine either.

He glanced towards where he'd last seen Sonic. Bunnie had pulled him away to who-knows-where to do some different work as for this stage of building not that many people were needed on the site and more would just mean everybody getting in each other's way. It was enough that the younger village kids were using the building site as a playground to play tag—or however Mobians called it. He was honestly surprised nobody had gotten hurt yet. Not that there weren't close calls, though.

Shadow found it in equal measures annoying and beneficial. Annoying because he constantly needed to check for kids running around and beneficial because, well, anytime he had to just stand and wait for the other workers to finish some part of the building before they could proceed, he could just stand and _listen_ to the kids. And you know what was great about that? Kids were loud, repeated themselves a bunch of times, and their sentences were _simple_. They offered perfect bite-sized pieces of dialoque to learn basic vocabulary and _grammar _from; Shadow was painfully aware that _that _certain part of language still eluded him.

However, even though the kids certainly knew the language better than him, they definitely lacked knowledge of different things—such as _self-preservation_.

Several yards away, there where two villagers were trying to move a heavy log to another place. From the way their muscles were shaking, it was obvious the log was proving too heavy for them to bear by the second, but there was a kid _hanging_ from it, trying to climb to the top while hanging from the bottom, laughing like someone who did not realize and did _not_ care they were in danger even if the adults were yelling at the kid to get off, because the villagers knew that if their control slipped now, the kid would get_ squished_ under the weight of the wood.

Thus, with a swear under his breath, Shadow zoomed over, not caring how his sudden appearance startled the other kids who seemed to be spurring the one kid on—troublemakers they all were—and without hesitating even for a moment he removed the kid from the log with one sharp tug that had the kid crying out in surprise. The adults let their heavy load drop the moment Shadow stepped out of the way and the ground seemed to shake under the weight of the impact.

All the kids seemed oddly quiet suddenly. Even the one in Shadow's arms. Well, at least now they seemed to realize how dangerous the activity had really been.

Shadow turned to the little crowd of children—he guessed them all to be around six years old—and gently set the kid back on his feet. They all looked spooked, though how much that was from the log-falling and how much because they knew they were about to be harshly scolded. It probably wasn't helping he was very much a stranger to them. A _scary_-looking stranger.

However, Shadow had a feeling they'd get earful from their own parents after the other two villages inevitably told them what their little darlings were up to, so Shadow did not do anything beside smiling so his teeth—_canines_—showed and_ growling_ out a single, simple, "Run."

Expectedly, the kids all began yelling bloody murder but they did all actually run back into the village where they could cause trouble to their parents instead of them.

The two villagers thanked him for his help and Shadow acknowledged them only with a jerk of his head before getting back to work, hoping he'd not have to save any kids for the rest of the day.

Of course, the little devils returned just when a break was declared. The kids were obviously wary of him after his little show but they still dared to approach him, with big curious eyes. No self-preservation, indeed. Like a moth to a flame.

"What you want?" he intoned when they continued to do nothing but stare at him. The 'climber' from before laughed for whatever reason.

"You speak funny," the kid said as if that was supposed to be some sort of revelation to him. "Mom says it's because you're from far away."

"...Yes," Shadow managed eventually after he connected the few words he recognized with the most likely scenario in his head of what the kid could be saying. God, he didn't even know enough to talk to a five year old kid without looking like a fool.

"What games do people from far away play?" the kid inquired and the other kids seemed curious about the answer too. _Games._ Shadow knew that word. The kids has used it a lot when they were being work hazard aka 'playing' in their own childish minds. Shadow understood its meaning but he didn't really have nothing to offer because as far as he'd seen the kids already knew such as the typical tag or hide-and-seek that human children favored. Honestly, he was starting to wonder whether these games weren't universal to all species.

To be honest, the only things he could possibly teach them was patty cake and rock-paper-scissors, but that would probably lead to them asking what the hell was paper and scissors. However, he had an inkling the kids would not leave him alone until he'd showed them something.

Shadow snorted. GUN's perfect living weapon of mass destruction was about to play patty cake. He really hoped his GUN overseers were watching and rolling in their graves.

With a sigh, he moved to sit on the ground and then motioned for the kid to copy him. His conspirator friends held their breath as the kid sat down across him. The air was thick with tension. Shadow felt like laughing at the seriousness in all their expressions.

When he clapped his hands together, they all seemed to jump a little. Shadow snorted in amusement and just motioned for the kid to copy him again. The kid did tentatively. Shadow then clapped against his thighs and after the kid did as well, he continued to perform the rest of the routine, and then repeated it again and again, and the kid caught on quickly, realizing it was a rhythm game and that the point was not to mess up when Shadow laughed when the kid inevitably did.

Of course, that only made the kid more determined to win. Shadow gradually picked up speed and the kid did his best to match him, but the kid still had no chance of winning, considering Shadow's reflexes and that this was still nothing compared to the speed he was capable of. As to be expected, the kid eventually _blundered _and lost. Obviously, the kid wanted a third try to beat him but the other kids fought him on it, wanting to try their own hands on trying the game and beating Shadow.

Shadow decided to give each of the kids a single try with a new routine to make it fair to them all. He was on his way to win 5-0 with the last of the kids when he caught a familiar shade of blue from the corner of his eyes. Reflexively, his gaze shifted to check whether it indeed was Sonic and the single moment of inattentiveness was enough for him to mess up. The little girl against which he was playing immediately started shouting excitedly at her victory.

When Shadow inevitably met Sonic's eyes, the hedgehog looked thoroughly amused, where he stood leaning against one of the huts, just watching them. From his periphery vision and from the sounds, Shadow could tell the kids were fighting again, likely wanting another try to restore their own honor now when they knew Shadow was beatable. Sonic began to make their way over to them just as the ruckus was dying out and the climber kid managed to settle in the rightful opponent 'seat' again.

"Alright, kiddos, I think you've bothered Shadow enough for today," Sonic said with a grin to the kids who were all looking up to him, except for one.

"But, Mom—" the climber kid started before he obviously realized the voice had not been his mother's. The kid's cheeks were red with embarrassment as he looked up to see who had been speaking.

Sonic just offered the kid a grin. "Yes,_ son_?"

The kid's entire face seemed to turn red as his fellow kids began laughing at his unintentional blunder. The kid scrambled to his feet and yelled something Shadow didn't manage to catch before running off back into the village, his still laughing friends right at his tail.

Shadow allowed his own little chuckle to escape once the kids were out of earshot. Sonic mirrored him as they looked at each other again.

"I see you're having fun," Sonic noted as he sat down where the kid had been sitting, opposite of him. One of Shadow's brows rose up as Sonic raised his hands in the same manner he'd taught the kids to do before the start of each round. Sonic just offered him a wide grin. "What? I can't try the game myself?" The grin transformed into a smirk. "Or are you too afraid you might lose again?"

And there it was again, Sonic teasing and challenging him. Shadow responded with a smirk of his own as he raised his hands too.

Game on.

oOo

Chaos, Sonic _adored_ Knothole.

The more time he spend in the village, the more he was convinced of the fact. Knothole was just _something else_ in comparison to all the other villages he'd ever visited.

The mutual respect he'd glimpsed at the first day really was a norm in the entirety of it. There weren't many blessed even though there was over a few hundred people in the village but everybody treated them as if they were absolutely normal and nobody acted as if just talking to them would somehow summon humans to the very spot they were standing at. They had so many craftsmen making things Sonic barely understood. They even had an artisan called Rotor who worked with _metal_ and created strange things full of_ moving parts _and nobody even batted an eye _at that_. Sonic was convinced Miles would love to just meet the guy. If he could work with Rotor, Chaos, Sonic knew they'd create absolutely incredible things.

Simply put the 'culture' of the place was a completely opposite of what he knew.

And the people, Chaos, there were some incredible personalities here. Like Sally. She was an omega but just like him, her personality was a far cry from what you'd expect of omega. She was headstrong and did not let herself be ordered around, not even her mate—which apparently was the monkey guard—Ken— they'd met, who would have guessed—but beside that she was also caring and whatever problem was brought to her attention she'd do what she could to resolve it. She was her brother's right hand and Sonic understood why that was because she honestly just exuded the leader attitude herself and it took a single conversation with her for Sonic to go from the common courtesy to really _respecting _her. It was no wonder everybody in the village held her in such a high regard.

She'd been expectedly cautious when he'd asked her whether they'd been willing to accept several people but as he went into the reasons she seemed to gradually go from wanting to reject him to contemplating his request. She even asked him for additional details on everybody and the entire situation. In the end, she told him she'd bring it up to her brother and that she would give him the answer in a few days.

After their conversation, Sonic had allowed himself to be cautiously hopeful as she struck him as someone that would reject him right away if there really wasn't a chance of that.

He was ecstatic when four days she came while he'd been helping Bunnie with something and told him it could be arranged. There were conditions obviously—like that they'd all be living at the outskirts of the village and watched over for some time until Sally's brother was convinced they really could be trusted. Sonic thought that was reasonable. But even the knowledge there would be certain lack of privacy for a couple of months if he came to live here could not curb his excitement at the prospect. Even if Shadow did not want to live at the village, they'd still be very close and he could visit Miles and others there.

Now would come the harder part—go back to his tribe, convince everybody to trust him and then to follow him back to Knothole. And also, somehow explain his entire plan to Shadow or somehow get him to tag along while Sonic arranged that.

Well, he supposed he could leave that for tomorrow. It wasn't like he needed to rush or anything.

oOo

Today was the day.

"Sonic," Shadow called the hedgehog the moment he saw him emerge from the cave, yawning and stretching his body from the night's sleep. It took the omega a moment to spot him atop the cave. "Come here." He motioned for the spot beside him. "...Please," he added, remembering that in Sonic's language it was considered rude to speak so forwardly. He'd gotten an earful from the kids about not doing that all this time.

"Hi, there." Sonic grinned as he climbed up to sit beside him atop the small cliff—if it could even be called that—into which's side the cave was carved. "You wanted to show me something?" he asked, nuzzling into Shadow's side.

"Yes." Not letting himself be distracted by the physical contact, Shadow motioned to the map he'd drawn into the dirt. He'd drawn the major landmarks like mountains and rivers he could remember seeing or could see in the distance. It was likely very skewed in regards of perspective but it wasn't like he'd be using it for navigation, just to get his point across.

Sonic raised a confused brow. It wasn't unlikely he'd never seen a map in his life. Thus Shadow began to explain, pointing at the various pictures and naming them before pointing at their real world counterparts in the distance. It was why he'd wanted to be higher up, so Sonic could see them all.

Something akin realization flashed across Sonic's face by the third natural monument Shadow listed.

And now for— "Bunnie's village." Shadow showed a small circle under the mountain drawing. "Where is your village?"

Sonic looked surprised by the question, but he did his best to point it out on the makeshift map. "I guess somewhere around _here_." Sonic touched on the map to the left of the main river and right to the mountain that was the furthest Shadow could still see on the horizon.

"Is long walk?"

"Umm, a couple of days?" Sonic looked unsure, which Shadow understood; he'd to have been spending plenty of time in the villages themselves when looking for a mate, so it wasn't likely he knew how a journey with no such stops would take.

"You like to go here?" Shadow asked, turning to look at Sonic. This time he looked almost shocked...and _hopeful_?

"Will you go with me?" Sonic asked, his eyes beginning to sparkle with something.

"I go," Shadow affirmed and suddenly, his arms were full of laughing Sonic and Sonic's own arms were squeezing him tightly. Well, he guessed he'd been right about Sonic feeling homesick.

Sonic immediately began to babble excitedly as he grabbed Shadow's hand and pulled him down from the cliff, so they could go pack essentials like food for the journey. Shadow could not help but smile at Sonic's enthusiasm.

Shadow was certain it took only like half a minute for Sonic to pack most of the necessary stuff, to which Shadow just added a few small things like a knife and some cloth; he'd rather be ready for everything that not have it when he'd need it.

Next, Shadow doused the fireplace, secured the leather curtain covering the entrance, so nothing without a certain degree of intelligence and opposable thumbs could get in while they were gone.

Then, the two of them set on their way. With every step their took, an unpleasant feeling that said they should not be leaving grew in Shadow's gut, but he reasoned that was just his paranoia at work, trying to convince him to stay put in a familiar territory where he knew humans never passed through. However, Shadow was done obeying it.

After all, what were the chances they'd run into someone from GUN or any other human? Let alone someone that would recognize him? Negligible.

He was _certain_ the visit to Sonic's village was going to go without a hitch.

* * *

**AN:** You know, I planned to get these two to Sonic's village like halfway through, but both of them were like 'nah', so Sonic's village is obviously gonna come next chapter. When it's gonna be I honestly have no clue. As I said I wanted to finish DD first, but if the mood strikes maybe you'll see a chapter before that.

As for the future, I envision this story to have about 2 more chapters but don't take that number as set in stone as that's me purely eyeballing the length from my story plan. But it's certainly gonna be a wild ride, let me tell you that.


End file.
